


Wonderland Chaos

by Noizchild



Series: Wasteland 2011 [19]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Apocalypse, Cold Case - Freeform, Dark, Death, Dragons, Game Shows, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Guilt, Horror, Human Experimentation, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kidnapping, Murder, Mythology - Freeform, Suicide, Supernatural Elements, Torture, missing person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2018-12-10 12:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 93,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11691387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noizchild/pseuds/Noizchild
Summary: Sixth volume is up. Second of three stories that follow my poem, "Wasteland 2011" and the core story. The third gate has been opened and Kitano and Etsuko decide to take their experiments even further. With help from the Dis Program, Tandeki has an edge in the game. Things start to speed into overdrive as Mikado and the other tadpoles start to notice changes to their bodies.





	1. Chapter 1

Wonderland Chaos

Halo Zero: Gate:

-Moscow, Russia-

In the wee hours of morning, a middle-aged Japanese man ran up the stairs of the clock tower in the main building Moscow State University. He held his thick black coat to his body as he ran. Behind him, three Russian men dressed like USSR officers ran up the stairs. Their target fled until he reached the top of the building. Moments earlier, he had just sent an e-mail to a colleague back in his home country and there was pounding on office door.

"Professor Yoemon!" a loud voice boomed. "We have a warrant for your arrest! Come out quietly!" The professor escaped out the window and ran across the lawn. He didn't have much time to take anything with him. Even still, Yoemon knew that this was it.

Now, he ran over to the opening and looked down. What was he thinking coming up here? He supposed that his colleague's words echoed in his head. "If you are ever caught, you have to be ready to take the final exit." Professor Yoemon panted as he looked down. He could see the stone path and steps below. The man leaned his head against the wall as the footsteps drew closer. The three Russian man came to the top of the stairs. Their leader had an AK-47 strapped to his back.

"This is the end of the road!" he shouted. "Come with us!" Professor Yoemon didn't budge. He didn't even lift his head.

"You know better us than the English," the leader soldier said. "Do you really keep that bastard Kitano is going to come save you now?"

"I know," Professor Yoemon said. His foot slipped on the outside edge of the clock tower, but he gripped onto the wall.

"Hand over the Dis Program!" the soldier barked.

"I can't do that," the professor said. "You're too late. I've only sent the program to them. If you and your men try to hack into my computer, it will kill itself. The hard drive will be fried and wiped. You cannot stop it, it's already in motion. The only thing that you will do is spread my words." He then let go of the wall and fell backwards. The three soldiers ran to the edge as Professor Yoemon to the stone steps below.

Back in the professor's office, the computer wiped itself clean and malfunctioned.

* * *

-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan-

More people started to notice that something wasn't right around the city. The opening of the third gate brought in more demons. But, this time is different.

"Mama, there's a weird man in a mask staring at us," a little boy said as he pointed across the street.

"Don't point," his mother said as she turned to look. However, a confused look covered her face.

"What are you talking about?" the mom asked. "I don't see anyone over there."

"But the man's right there and he looks scary," her son said. She would've brushed it off to his imagination, but his tone told her to panic.

"Okay…" the mother said. "Did you know that mama was the fastest girl on her track team?" She knelt down and took her son by his cheeks.

"Listen, keep your eyes down and we're going to see how fast I can run, okay?" the mom told him. The little boy slowly nodded.

"Right," she said. The mom picked up her son and started running down the darkened early morning street.

* * *

-Mikado and Masaomi-

3:45 a.m.

Mikado awoke panting in his futon. Sweat covered his slender body.

"Dreams again?" Masaomi asked.

"Yes," his friend said, slowly nodding.

"I think it's getting worse."

Mikado's eyes shifted next to him. He had gotten used to hearing the city around him every night. Right now, he could hear his heart pounding against his chest. The tadpole boy tried to take his attention away from the blood rushing in his body.

"Masaomi-kun," Mikado said.

"What?" his friend asked.

"Why are you still here?"

"You still need me."

"But don't you want to go home?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it I left, you would have another break down. You waking up screaming and panting in the middle of the night is reason enough for me to stay."

"But when was the time you went home?"

"Did you hear me say I'm not leaving?"

"Okay, okay. Geez."

Masaomi put his hand on Mikado's shoulder. "We'll get through this. I won't let you end up like Satoshi."

"Yes…" Mikado said. His eyes trailed up to the ceiling. He couldn't get last night's revelations out of his head. Witness to the apocalypse? As if that wasn't bad enough, just hours earlier, the founder of the Dollars started to feel that things were getting worse in Ikebukuro. Part of him wished that he didn't have these hyper senses that Tandeki "blessed" him with. If he had to hear Kitano's voice one more time, he swore that he was going to snap. What else could he possibly do to him and others? Shinra and Shingen made it sound like there were more tadpoles out there in Japan right now. What if they were like Satoshi? Scared and alienated and looking for revenge?

"Masaomi-kun?" Mikado asked.

"Yeah?" the Yellow Scarves shogun replied.

"What would you do if I changed into a monster?"

"Change you back no matter the cost."

"But what if there was no way to change me back?"

"I would still keep trying."

"And after that? Would you try and kill me?"

Masaomi lifted his head, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Mikado shook his head. "It's nothing."

"No! We promised that we wouldn't keep things from each other until we get through this. If there is something wrong, just go ahead and say it."

His friend gave him a strange look. "I don't remember promising you that."

"Never mind that. Why are you asking me these questions? Did something happen tonight?"

"Not really. But I get the feeling things are going to get much worse."

"What about you talking about?"

"I don't know how to explain it. It's just…" Mikado lowered his head. "Please… Be careful."

Masaomi pressed his lips together. "Alright. But what about you?" Mikado's eyes shifted away from his best friend.

"Mikado?" the blonde boy asked.

"I shouldn't have said anything," his friend muttered. Mikado rolled over, turning his back.

"Mikado?" Masaomi asked again.

"We'll talk in the morning," Mikado said, closing his eyes. Masaomi opened his mouth to speak.

"Please!" the other boy pleaded. He knew it was pointless to sleep anymore, but he just needed to get his best friend to stop talking.

* * *

-6:00 a.m.-

Etsuko pulled out her cell phone and made another call.

"Hello," she said. "I know it's late over there in Moscow, but I have a personal request for you. I think you're going to love this one. I've always known you to enjoy a challenge. I have a good one for you here. Will you hear me out? Excellent."

The doctor looked out the window of her second lab at Rampo Biotech.

"I a particular patient for you," she continued. "He's what I would call a minotaur. You are familiar with our game, correct? I thought so. Saves me time explaining everything. We see this minotaur as a vital threat to our game. What I want is for you to tame him with your 'special' training. I've heard that you've improved your techniques since last we spoke. Good to know. Anyway, I call you because we will need your skills. I am out of my league to hand him because I am a doctor of the body and not mind, as you already know. Kitano-sensei and Otomo-sensei could do it, but their focus is better spent on their respective branches. If they took time to deal with the minotaur, who knows what could blow up behind their backs? Saying that, I do trust our interns, but we haven't told them what we want them to do in case something goes wrong. So, this is where you come in. Keep in mind, he's not like your previous patients. He's quite strong. In fact, we all call him Ikebukuro's strongest man. Are you still up for the challenge?"

Etsuko's lips curved into a little smirk.

"Excellent, that's what I wanted to hear," she said. "Your new patient's name? Heiwajima Shizuo."

* * *

The inner circle is free to move about as they like. That third gate opening gave the energy to get more productive.

-Ten Minutes Earlier-

Both Aya and Etsuko had proposals to take out two big obstacles in their progressing game. The doctor spoke with Kitano as he made his way to the glass doors of Rampo Biotech.

"Good morning, Asato-sensei," he greeted her. "Did you stay over again?"

"Yes sir," she said. "I think I might have found a way to deal with our minotaur friend."

"Oh?" Kitano asked.

"Do you remember my friend in Moscow?"

"Which one is she again?"

"She the psychiatrist who's known for her unorthodox methods in therapy. Moscow State University fired her because of them."

"Ah, her. What about your extreme friend?"

"She's not that extreme. Anyway, I think she could help him with the minotaur."

Kitano tilted his head. "Can she handle him?"

His longtime partner broke into a little smile. "I think she would love this case. She has always loved a challenge." The doctor-turned-psychiatrist did a little thinking at first.

"And you believe this will help us?" he asked.

"Yes," Etsuko said.

"Make the call," Kitano said.

"Thank you, sensei," she said. The doctor bowed and wen ahead of him.

-7:00 a.m.-

Kitano sat at his desk with his paperwork when he heard a knock on his door.

"Enter," he said.

"Excuse me," Aya said as she walked inside.

"Yes?" the older psychiatrist asked.

"I have been in touch with the nightcomers and they passed along a rather interesting idea to eliminate an enemy," she spoke up. Kitano raised his eyebrow.

"Explain," he said. The female psychiatrist didn't miss a beat.

"I want to see if I can curse somebody to death," she said.

"Do you have a particular target in mind?"

"Yes."

"Let me see what the spell is and I make my decision."

"I mostly certainly will. I have it right here with me." Aya reached into her bag and pulled out her small black notebook. She handed it over to Kitano. He opened it up to the bookmarked section and ran over the contents. Aya peeked over at her own book.

"How successful is this spell?" Kitano asked.

"Highly successful according to their mother," the female psychiatrist said.

"And why do you want to use it?"

"I believe this target will stand in the way when we reach the mother."

Kitano handed her back her book. "You can do this plan, but not yet. We are just about to start round two of our game. I want to make sure some of the pegs are nailed down before we do anything advanced like eliminating your target."

"I understand," Aya said. She bowed and headed out of Kitano's office.

* * *

-1:00 p.m.-

Kitano had just finished his lunch when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Is this Katsuhiro Kitano?" a man with a Russian accent asked on the other end of the line. The therapist raised his eyebrow.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I am calling you from the Embassy of the Russian Federation," the man on the other line said. "I'm sorry to inform you, but your colleague, Kenji Yoemon, had passed away." Kitano lowered his pen and froze.

"What happened to him?" he asked in a low voice.

"He jumped to his death from Moscow State University's main building," the man from the embassy said. "Two grad students found him this morning when they were walking into the building. The police wouldn't give me any details of why he was up there in the first or the motive."

Kitano rubbed his forehead. "Have you notified his wife yet?"

"We called her before you."

"How did she take it?"

"Oddly stoic, actually."

"I figured as much. They've been estranged for quite some time now."

"Oh, that would explain it."

"Yes. Anyway, thank you for informing me. Goodbye." Kitano hung up the phone. He looked down at the paperwork on his desk before looking at his phone.

"It should hit right about… now," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

-3:00 p.m.-

Mari was running maintenance on the network through Rampo's main supercomputer when her cell phone rang. She rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore it. When the ringing didn't stop, the intern reached over and picked up her phone.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me at work?" Mari asked with clenched teeth.

"But I'm bored!" Izaya complained on the other line. "Shinra won't pick up his phone and Namie's still dead."

"That isn't my problem. I'm sorry you don't have any other friends."

"Aw, you don't have to sound so harsh, Mari-tan."

Mari sighed and rubbed her forehead. "What do you want, Izaya?"

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" the informant asked.

"Working, just like last weekend," the intern said. Her eyes shifted the bottom right corner of the screen when a notification box popped up. "One new message" flashed in big red characters.  _Hm, what is this?_

"Aw, you're no fun, Mari-tan," Izaya complained. "Why do you always have to be working?"

"I have to do so to earning a living," she said. "That's what most people do in the adult world." The intern clicked on the notice box. The pop-up disappeared and took her into her work inbox. Mari raised her eyebrow at the single e-mail waiting for her. She didn't recognize the sender's address and she couldn't make out most of the subject line.

"City of Dis?" the intern asked herself.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Izaya asked. Mari shook her head.

"No," she said lied as she clicked on the e-mail. The body only contained one line of text and an attachment. "It's done, you can use this to advance the game." Mari rolled her eyes as she clicked on the attachment. The option to download popped up and she clicked yes. By this point, she toned out Izaya as he made his case for her to play hockey this weekend and how they didn't spend enough time together. Mari rolled her eyes as she clicked on the download once it finished loading. Next, she unzipped the file and waited.

"Uh-huh," she said to Izaya, half-listening. Looks like it would be time to come up with an excuse to get him off the phone again. What could she use this time? Izaya practically know every excuse in the book that she could come up with. Sometimes, he would go along with it. And other times, he would call her out on it. Judging by how he was rambling on over the phone, Izaya would probably call her out on her excuse if she tried to come up with one. Mari's eyes trailed up to the ceiling as she did some thinking. She would probably would have to get creative today.

Mari was about to open her mouth when she noticed that the file had unzipped. She closed on the single. Her jaw dropped.

"What… Is this...?!" Mari asked. Her phone slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor.

"What happened?" Izaya asked. "Mari-tan? Hello? Hello?"

* * *

So what has come through the third gate?

Something is causing the children of Ikebukuro to pause and take notice. They now can see the bakeneko and hitei-oni like Celty, Mikado, and the other tadpoles. However, that was only the beginning of the first day. By sundown, stronger demons arrived in the city. That masked man in the alley that little boy saw wasn't the only one on the loose.

One pale-looking woman wanders the streets looking for a lost child. Her long stringy black hair covered her face. She wipes and tries to ask those that see her where lost babe is. The best way to answer is to say, "I don't know, but I will let you know when I see them." She wasn't the only one now roaming the living world. More demons look around for vessels to possess. Only, these shared no interested in the depressed or those with low self-esteem with the hitei-oni already in the living world.

Children. They looked so pure. Sure they had their mischief and foolishness, but most of them had no idea of the harsh adult world their families lived in. These newly arrived demons wanted to change that as soon as possible. They don't care if they could be seen by their potential victims or not. Most of them loved a challenge. Just as long as children had that sweet orange smell as one of them claimed to have.

Still, they aren't the only ones in the living world now.

* * *

Celty, Shiki, Akabayashi and Kazamoto had just walked outside after discussing a job when they noticed Akane and a friend of hers staring up at the sky.

"[What are they doing?]" Celty typed on her PDA.

"I have no idea," Shiki said. The yakuza mean walked over to the little girls.

"Hey, girls, what are you looking at?" Akabayashi asked. Akane pointed towards the thick blue sky.

"What is that?" she asked. The men looked up.

"Uh… The sky?" Shiki offered up. Akane's friend shook her head.

"No," she said, pointing upwards. "That!" The men looked up at the sky, but saw nothing.

"Could describe to us what you see?" Shiki asked.

"It looks like a huge silver and blue dragon," Akane said with her eyes still on the sky.

"A dragon, huh?" Shiki asked.

"And it's all covered in eyes," she added.

"Covered in eyes, huh?" he asked.

"Yes," both girls said. When Celty looked up at the sky, she got a full view of what the little girls were talking about. A giant silver and blue dragon swam across the sky. Many eyes covered its fat body as it looked down and around the city. Some of the eyes looked down and spotted the little girls staring up at it.

"It can see us," Akane whispered. Those same eyes spotted Celty staring up at it. That alone told her everything she needed to know about how bad things were getting.

And round two was just getting started.


	2. Family

Halo One: Family:

-November 13th, 1986-

"I'm home," Makoto said in a tired way. He didn't make much money today, but he did return with another treasure. Three years and he still struggled to make ends meet. Makoto barely held down a stable job for too long. He lacked a full high school education due to dropping out just before turning eighteen. He didn't even know how to speak any other languages. The best Makoto could get around Ikebukuro and other districts around Tokyo was construction work. Luckily for him, he was good with hands.

Makoto walked into the living room. He found Hyacinth Girl sitting on the floor.

"Welcome home," she said.

"What are you doing out here?" her husband asked.

"I just put the baby to sleep," she whispered. "What did you bring home today?" Makoto looked down at the wrapped bundle in his arm.

"Ah," he said. "Take a look at this." Makoto set the bundle down on the floor and unwrapped the grey towel. Hya-chan crawled over for a closer look. Her husband opened the lid. He blew the dust from the LP player inside.

"Do you like it?" Makoto asked. "I stopped by a pawn shop in Ikebukuro before I went to the bus station. Didn't find anything worth looking at, but the shop owner looked frustrated with this thing. I asked him what the problem was. The man said an American GI pawned off this broken LP player five days ago. He didn't care about the money; he just wanted to get rid of it."

"They can do that?" Hya-chan asked.

"The GI managed to do if after haggling with the shop owner for an hour. I think he just wanted to get rid of the American and shut him up. Anyway, the owner and his brother couldn't fix it. They were thinking about throwing it away when I walked into the shop. I offered to fix it up and they let me. The owner even offered to let me have it if I could fix it." Makoto grinned and flipped back his black hair from his forehead.

"I fixed it up to work like new!" he bragged. "They were show shocked that I could do it."

"Wow! You're so amazing!" his wife said. Her praises made him feel better about himself, but still hurt at the same time. He wished that he could do more to make her proud of him. The role of the man was to be the provider. He could barely even do that on a good day. Sometimes, he would let Hya-chan and the baby have dinner while he watched them eat.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" his wife would ask. Makoto would smile and wave her off.

"I already ate," he'd lie. "I ate before I came home." He could tell by looking in her eyes that she knew he wasn't being truthful. Makoto wished that he brought enough to have meals for all three members of the house. Maybe even bring home pricey food items like beef or crab. For the moment, Makoto broke into a huge smile.

"That's not all that got for us today," he said.

"What else did you get?" Hya-chan asked.

"Oh yes," Makoto said. He reached behind him and pulled out a paper bag of LP's.

"Another American G.I. had just walked into the pawn shop after I fixed up the LP player," he went on. "He stood the owner his pop rock and soft rock albums for a low price. I got the whole bag for 100¥."

"Wow!" Hya-chan said. Makoto took out the records and spread them out on the floor.

"What would you like to hear?" he asked. Hya-chan looked at the selection in front of her. She picked up one LP and stared at the cover with intent.

"Don't Dream it's Over?" she asked. Makoto crawled over to her side for a look.

"Hm," he said. "That looks like it would be interesting. What do you think? Shall we play it?" Hya-chan perked up.

"Okay!" she said. Her husband chuckled and patted her on the head.

"Alright then," he said. Makoto removed the vinyl for the black and white sleeve and put it on the empty surface. He lowered the arm and the opening guitar riff filled the air.

* * *

"Thanks for dinner," Makoto said at the dinner table after he put down his chopsticks. He looked up and saw Hya-chan smiling at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm just so happy to see you eating with me for a change, Mako-kun," his wife said.

"Well, we have enough fish and rice tonight," he said.

"It was great that Suzuki-san gave it to us today."

Makoto let out an uncomfortable titter. "I wish that she didn't have to though."

"It's fine. Her son's walking late in Ikebukuro tonight anyway." Hya-chan gave him a puzzled look as he sat back, sighing.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "Suzuki-san's only trying to help us."

"I just don't want us to rely on her too much," Makoto said. "I want to be the one to provide for all three of us."

"There's nothing wrong with asking others for help."

"I still don't like it. It feels like we're imposing on her."

"She doesn't mind. I just think she's lonely. Her son lives all the way in Nagasaki and he only comes by when he's working Ikebukuro."

Makoto frowned and lay down on the tatami mats. His wife frowned and lowered her chopsticks.

"Why do you have to starve yourself for us?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You always watch me eat at dinner. How do you manage to get food for yourself?"

"I grab bites to eat here and there." It hurt when she could see through his lie. She shouldn't have to fuss over him so much. He was supposed to be the one to take care of his wife and son. But how could he even do that when there wasn't enough for all three of them to eat? Hya-chan reached over with her napkin and wiped Makoto's cheek.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You had a little rice stuck to your cheek," his wife said. Makoto reached up and wiped his own cheek.

"Oh, thank you," he said. Suddenly, their baby started crying down the hall.

"Oh, he's awake now," Hya-chan said. She started to get up, but Makoto held up his hand.

"No, no," he said. "I've got it this time."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," Makoto said. Hya-chan sat back into place.

"Alright," she said.

"I'll be right back," her husband said. Makoto rose to his feet and walked down the hall.

"Coming, coming, little buddy," he said softly. "Daddy's coming."

* * *

Makoto returned to the living room after dealing with the baby. Hya-chan sat against the wall with her needs to her chest.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Good," Makoto said. "Changed his diaper, gave him his bottle, burped him, rocked him to sleep, and put him back to bed." His wife leaned forward, smiling.

"Can we play 'Don't Dream it's Over' again?" she asked. "I really like that song." Her husband threw back his head and groaned.

"Again?" he asked.

"Please?"

Makoto looked at her, smiling. "Sure." He walked over and turned on the LP player. He took his seat next to his wife. Hya-chan rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love nights like this," she said.

"Yeah…" Makoto mumbled. He sighed and looked down at his lap.

"What's the matter, Mako-kun?" Hya-chan asked. Her husband shook his head.

"I just wish that I had more money to really take care of you," he said.

"Why?"

Her question about made him fall backwards. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you obsessed with making more money?"

"Well… Look around. Our house could look better. We could use a bigger place."

"But I love this house."

"I know you do. But, I still want to give you nice things. Pretty dresses. Pretty jewelry. Maybe a color TV so that you won't be so bored around the house when I'm at work. And maybe even a night on the town for you and me like a little date night." He looked down to see Hya-chan shaking her head.

"No?" Makoto asked. "I don't understand."

"You don't need money to be happy," she said. "The richest man in the world could be very sad and lonely in real life. One of Suzuki-san's friends read this poem called  _Richard Cory_  to us today. I forgot who wrote it, but it was about a rich man who seemed to have everything. Everyone in town wanted to be like him. They even envied him." The light in her face started to die a little.

"Nevertheless, the rich man shot himself in the end," she said. Makoto frowned.

"Lovely," he muttered.

"The point is, all of that wealth and status didn't make him happy," Hya-chan said. "I'm grateful that we're still happily married, we have a healthy, happy baby boy, a nice house filled with love, we're both in good health, you are able to work and find work, a nice LP player, the great music we're playing right now, and we have a nice neighbor that helps us out."

Her husband sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wish that I could give you nice things from time to time."

"But you already have today. I really do love the LP Player and the music."

Makoto finally and patted her on the head. "I'm glad I did something you could be proud of today."

She took hold of his left arm. "I love you, Mako-kun."

"Heh, I must be doing something right."

"I really love nights like this. I wish they could go on like this forever." Her words sparked something inside of her husband.

"It's almost perfect," Makoto said.

"Huh?" Hya-chan asked. Her husband gently pushed her off and rose to his feet. A tingle of worry came over his little wife's face.

"Mako-kun?" she asked. Her husband looked over his shoulder.

"I'll be right back, I promise," he said. Makoto disappeared down the hall. When he came back, he held their sleeping ten-month-old son in their arms. Hya-chan's eyes widened as she covered her mouth.

"Mako-kun…" she murmured.

"Shhh!" he was quick to say. "Don't wake him up. It took me several minutes to calm him down earlier." Makoto carried the baby over to his spot and sat down next to his wife. Hya-chan took hold of her husband left arm again and leaned on him. She had a gentle smile on her face as she drew her eyes closed. Makoto smiling over his sleeping son.

_Maybe Hya-chan's right_ , he thought. He forgot about not having much money again for the time being. Within ten days, that happiness would be shattered forever.


	3. Impulse

Halo Two: Impulse:

-April 10th-

Mikado awoke to someone talking.

_Saki didn't pick up this morning. I know I talked to her last night, but I can't be too careful anymore. What if she ends up dead and I didn't find out about it until it was too late? But I can't leave Mikado alone. He's in a worse shape than Saki is. The last thing I need is for him to get kidnapped by some lab and experimented on like he was at Chou Mori. But if I stay with him, Saki could die._

Mikado closed his eyes.

"It's fine, Kida-kun," he said. "You can go and see Mikajima. I'll be fine for now, really." But when he opened his eyes again, the tadpole found Masaomi sitting at his computer with a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Mikado sat up in his futon.

"I heard you talking about how worried you were about Mikajima," he explained. Masaomi shook his head.

"I didn't say anything," he said.

"But I just heard you…" Mikado said.

"No," his best friend insisted. The founder of the Dollars was about to speak when he heard snickering behind him. When he turned around, Satoshi sat at the foot of his futon, smirking.

"You!" Mikado shouted. The dead boy leaned forward.

"Well, well, well," he said. "It appears you seemed to have inherited my curse." Mikado looked around, trembling. He could feel Masaomi's eyes on his back as he stared at the seemingly empty space at the end of his futon.

_What are you talking about?_

Satoshi looked at him like a little angel. "Why don't you talk to me with your mouth?"

_Because Masaomi-kun's here! If I start talking out loud to you, he's going think I've gone crazy._

"Doesn't he think that about your already?" Satoshi asked, shrugging. "He already doesn't leave your place because he's scared you're going to harm yourself. My question is how long before you end up scaring him away."

_That will never happen!_

"Yeah, you say that now. He'll eventually see you as what you are turning into, a freak."

_That's not true!_

The dead tadpole smiled at him like a cat. "Ah, it must be nice to live in that naïve little world of yours. That love you have has made you so dense. Boy, it's going to be a sad day when they decide to kill you after they find out what you are."

_What did you mean I inherited your curse?_

"Ah yes," Satoshi said. "You can now hear thoughts."

_What?_

The dead boy put his arms behind his head. "I can't wait to see your friendship with Masaomi crumble because you can hear what he really thinks about you!"

Mikado fell backwards in his futon as the color drained from his face.  _No…_

"Mikado? Mikado, what's wrong?" Masaomi asked. Satoshi smirked at his impact.

* * *

-Rampo Biotech-

"There's something I wanted to show you before we begin the next experiment," Kitano said as he walked down the hall to Room 608. He swiped the keycard into the slot and walked through the open door. Etsuko followed him inside with a curious look on her face. Her partner walked over to the table where the Heartseed plant was kept under glass.

"Come over here and take a look," Kitano said. Etsuko came over to the glassed-up plant.

"Do you see where this part of the base has tiny bumps and looks rough?" the psychiatrist asked. The doctor leaned in closer.

"Here, let me remove the case for you," Kitano said. He twisted off the case with such care and lifted it up. He pointed over to the bumpy spot near the base he was talking about.

"See it?" he asked. Etsuko leaned in closer.

"Yes, I can see it," she said before lifting her head. "Isn't this where Satoshi's flower was."

"Yes," her partner said. "Let me tell you an interesting little thing I discovered about this plant. You are aware of what happens when our beloved tadpoles die, right?"

"Yes," Etsuko said.

"Well, I wondered what happened after the bud fell off. I noticed it back around February." Kitano looked down at the bumpy patch.

"Apparently over time, the stem will shrink back into the rest of the plant and merge with the base."

"But what about the blood sample inside of it?"

"Ah, this is where it gets fascinating. You see, I have had time to observe this Heartseed plant in between the game and our experiments. I took a sample of the base and examined it. Over the course of two months, I found that Satoshi's blood sample got absorbed into the other tadpole samples in the stems."

"Is that because of the binding we wrapped around each stem?"

"Yes."

"But does that mean the boys will have his…?" Etsuko formed her hands around her bust.

"No, not from what I have observed," Kitano said. "None of them have become defective. I still haven't come up with the answer as to why. But from what I last observed, our pets seemed to have inherited his ability."

"Heh?" Etsuko asked with sparked interest.

"We'll have to study this plant more as the experiments progress," Kitano said. He looked at the clock behind the doctor.

"Speaking of which, I think we can begin the next experiment," the therapist said.

"I'll bring in the interns," Etsuko said. Kitano handed her his keycard and she headed out of the room. The doctor returned with both sets of interns.

"Good morning," Kitano greeted them. "How is everyone today?" He received a chorus of half-sleep answers.

"Come on," he said. "You're young. You should not be this tired in the morning." Only Yuka looked like she wanted to answer the first question related to the new experiment he was going to ask.

"Never mind," Kitano said. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the baggie of red gel tablets.

"Last time, we did the blue pills," he said. "Now, we shall the test subjects the red pills." The interns crowded around for a closer look. Kitano put each pill into the open flowers like he was administering medicine during his intern days at the hospital. The little blossoms closed up back into buds. After the last pill, the plant glowed a bright red.

"And now we wait," the therapist said.

* * *

Things had calmed down for now.

Masaomi's plan was to keep things calm and keep an eye on his best friend. It didn't help that Mikado now tried to avoid him. The founder of the Dollars wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"I can hear your thoughts," he said, almost mumbling, as they walked to school. Masaomi gave him a strange look.

"Like Satoshi?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mikado said. Masaomi put his arm around his shoulders.

"We will get through this," he said. The founder of the Dollars looked at him like a desperate little child.

"But can we?" he asked.

"Hey, I can't have you giving up on me here!" Masaomi said. "I don't want to hear you doubting that we can't survive this. I will find a way to get you back to normal even if it kills me."

_I will get him back even if it kills me!_

Mikado shifted his eyes away and said nothing. The boys caught up with Anri, Noriko, and Chiharu on their way to school. En route, the founder of the Dollars noticed the sounds of the city, but no thoughts.

_I could hear Masaomi's thoughts all morning. Was that just a temporary thing? Was I just going crazy again? What about the others? Can they hear thoughts now too?_

Suddenly, Mikado felt this burning sensation in his chest. He froze in his tracks. His friends turned around when they heard heavy breathing.

"Mikado-kun?" Anri asked.

Mikado could only hear one voice in his head.

_Start a war. Start a war! Start a war!_

The tadpole boy's breathing grew heavier as he pulled out his cell phone. His fingers moved faster on the keys than his brain could keep up.

_I have to do this! I have to do this!_

"What are you doing?!" Masaomi yelled. He rushed forward and took the cell phone out of Mikado's hand. His friend struggled to try and take it back.

"No!" he shouted. "Give it back! Give it back! I have to finish it! Please, give it back!" The Yellow Scarves happened to look at the unfinished message on the screen.

"What the hell?!" Masaomi asked. "Why are you trying to start a gang war?!" The girls looked at each other, whispering. Mikado sank to his knees.

"I… I don't know," he said. "I don't know what came over me." Masaomi was about to open his mouth when Mikado's phone began to ring. His friend looked at him with pleading eyes.

"It could be important," the tadpole boy said. "Please let me have my phone back." Masaomi looked behind him at the girls. Anri, Chiharu, and Noriko didn't dare to speak or move.

"Guys, what going on here?" Chiharu finally asked. Masaomi opened his mouth, but Mikado's phone rang again. The founder of the Dollars managed to take it out of his best friend's hand and answer it.

"Hello?" Mikado asked.

"Good morning, tadpoles," Kitano's pre-recorded voice said on the other end of the line. All of the color drained from Mikado's face.

"Mikado?" Noriko asked.

"What's the matter?" Masaomi asked as he shook on the other boy's arm. "Hey! Hey!" He froze when he overheard the next part of Kitano's message.

"You are receiving this call because we have begun the second tadpole experiment," the therapist said in the recording. "The first one was a success and we will now begin to advance your evolution. For the next seventy-two hours, you will have no impulse control. You will only act on your id at random times for different periods of time. Again, consider this a motive to strengthen your powers and evolve. I wish you luck. Goodbye."

Mikado and Masaomi looked at each other with wide eyes.

* * *

Tetsu stared at his phone. Kitano's message explained what happened to him minutes earlier. He and Taichi had just finished eating breakfast. Tetsu noticed that he kept hearing his partner's thoughts all morning.

"I still love you," Tetsu said. "But I just can't touch you right now." Taichi looked up at him with an odd look.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked. Tetsu shook his head.

"Are you feeling okay?" his boyfriend asked. He reached over to put his hand on Tetsu's forehead, but the other young man pushed him away.

"Don't!" he shouted. "Please?" Taichi sat back down.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked. Tetsu looked down at his hands. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his chest. Taichi looked up when he heard him breathing heavily.

"Tetsu… -kun?" he asked. The fire tadpole shoved everything away from the table and crawled across it. Taichi's eyes widened as his boyfriend climbed on top of him.

"Tetsu-kun, what are you doing?!" he asked. The other boy panted as he took off his shirt and gloves.

"Fuck me," he said breathlessly. Taichi looked so bewildered.

"What?!" he asked.

"Fuck me," Tetsu said again. "Fuck me. Fuck me!"

"Okay… you didn't want me to touch you earlier and now you want sex?" the other boy asked. "What is going on with you?"

"Take your clothes off," Tetsu said as his hunger increased. He grabbed hold of Taichi's jeans and started to unzip them. But then, the fire tadpole paused with big, frightened eyes.

"Oh god," Tetsu murmured. He climbed off of his boyfriend and crawled over into the corner, trembling.

"Tetsu-kun?" Taichi asked. Tetsu buried his head in his hands.

After hearing Kitano's message, the tadpole didn't know whether to scream or cry.  _Why can't they just leave me alone?_  He lifted his head when his phone rang again. Tetsu gritted his teeth.  _Son of a bitch!_

"What is it, you bastard?!" he asked over the phone.

"Easy there," Shingen said on the other end of the line. "It's only me." Tetsu's face went dull.

"Oh, it's you," he muttered.

"What's with that tone?" the old man asked. Tetsu groaned.

"What do you want?"

"We're going to need all of you tadpoles to come by my son's apartment as soon as you can."

"Why?"

"You're going to want to hear this. My team and I have made some rather interesting finds this morning. Have you noticed any changes lately?"

Tetsu snorted. "Maybe."

"Aw, what do you sound so bitter?"

"Would you be shocked if I said that I didn't trust you?"

"I get that a lot. I'll be seeing you soon." Shingen hung up, leaving Tetsu to stare at his phone with narrowed eyes.

"You're all the same," he muttered.

* * *

-3:00 p.m.-

Shingen didn't enjoy having to wait for most of the tadpoles to show up.

"Most of them are still in school, dear," Emilia had to remind him. Her husband rubbed his forehead.

"Yes, yes," he said. She walked over and cuddled up next to him on the couch. The older man didn't seem to know where to put his hand at first before he settled on wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Tetsu sat on the other side of the room, frowning.

"What do you want from us?" he asked in a low voice.

"What?" Shingen asked. Tetsu leaned forward with his elbows on his lap.

"I don't believe that you are trying to help us out of charity," he said. "What is your angle? Why are you trying to help us so much?" Emilia kissed her husband on the cheek.

"Would you rather them or us?" he asked. The fire tadpole put his arms behind his head.

"Neither to be honest," he said.

"Oh and return that horse statue you have in your bag when you leave," Shingen said. The tadpole about jumped back in his seat.

"What?!" he shouted.

"I saw you take it earlier," the older man said. "Please put it back where you found it." Tetsu frowned as he puffed up his cheeks.

"Fine, I'll put it back," he mumbled. Tetsu paused and looked at the door just before he settled back into place. Shingen and Emilia looked up when they heard the doorbell ring.

"Oh, they're here," Emilia said.

"I'll get it," Tetsu said. He leapt to his feet and walked over to the door. He was greeted by Mikado, Masaomi, and the tadpole girls.

"Yo," the fire tadpole said.

"You've been here long?" Mikado asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah," Tetsu said. He happened to look out in the crowd at the door and notice Masaomi standing with Mikado.

"Who is this?" he asked. Masaomi grabbed his best friend by the arm.

"It's okay," Mikado said. "He's with me. He knows about my powers." Tetsu glared at Masaomi for a second and then backed away from the door.

"Fine, whatever," he said. Masaomi and the tadpoles walked into the apartment. They all took a seat in the apartment. Shingen clapped his hands together.

"Perfect," he said. "I know you all have some questions. So, I'm just going to go right ahead and say it. You're already aware of the new experiment that Tandeki has pushed you into, right?" The older doctor took note of the looks of discomfort on the on tadpoles' faces.

"Of course you are," he said. "How many of you are starting to hear thoughts?" All but the three normal human raised their hands.

"I see," Shingen said. Emilia stood next to her husband. She held up a picture of Aida Satoshi. Mikado couldn't bring himself to look at the photograph. Masaomi rubbed his friend on the shoulder.

"This was Aida Satoshi," Emilia said. "He was a tadpole just like you. He was died back in January."

"Because of his death," Shingen said. "You all have his power." The tadpoles all had confused looks on their faces.

"So we can hear thoughts now?" Akiko asked. Emilia had a tinge of slight worry on her face at the girl's tone.

"Yes," she said as she tried to make herself calm down.

"But," Shingen said. He held up a sheet of paper. "This sheet of paper is one tadpole's powers. When one of you die…" The old doctor ripped the paper into tiny pieces and threw them to the floor.

"You all only get one tiny piece of that power," he said. "Depending on how many tadpoles there are."

"I hope you're going to clean that up, dad," someone spoke up. Everyone looked up to see Shinra and Celty in the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah, I will," Shingen said.

"Is that why we can only hear thoughts when we're alone with one person?" Mikado asked.

"Yes," Emilia said.

"Wait, how many of us are there?" Nami asked.

"Fifty-two," Shinra answered in a grim tone. "There are fifty-two of you total, not counting Aida. Tandeki have been doing this project since 1989." Nobody spoke. Masaomi pulled Mikado closer to him when he felt his best friend trembling. He whispered a little phrase into the founder of the Dollars'.

"I will protect you no matter what."

As much as Mikado wanted to believe that, he slowly began to doubt that would be possible. But, Masaomi wouldn't listen to his reasoning anyway. This current experiment only made things worse.

* * *

-Rampo Biotech-

Kitano and Etsuko watched as the tadpoles' Heartseed plant glowed bright red.

"Etsuko-sensei," Kitano spoke up.

"Yes, Kitano-sensei?" the doctor asked.

"I think it's time we let the interns be more hands-on with the tadpole evolution," her partner said. "I have been in a teaching mood lately."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Alright, we shall let the interns be more active in the experiments," the doctor said.

"Good," the therapist said back.


	4. Satoru

Halo Three: Satoru:

-1:00 a.m.-

Kanazawa ran down an alley to a chain-linked fence. He tried to climb up, but the fence wouldn't hold him his weight. The human trafficker fell to the ground just as he heard footsteps coming towards him. Against his better judgement, Kanazawa turned around. The woman in her oni mask and black clothing stood with her cleaver by her side. Her prey held up his hands and shook his head.

"No, no, no, no!" he cried. "Please don't kill me! Uh… Is it money you want? Here!" Kanazawa reached into his pockets and threw yen bills at her feet. The masked woman didn't look down. She raised her cleaver above her head. Kanazawa's eyes widened.

"No! No!" he cried.

Hack!

Her blade came down thirteen times. The masked woman didn't respond as blood splashed on her black t-shirt and jeans. After the final blow, she wiped the blade on her jeans and discarded her cleaver in the dumpster. The woman picked up the body and dragged it with her.

-Three Days Earlier-

A man with short black hair and glasses walked into the police station. He shoved his hands into his pockets after he made his way through the glass doors.

"Can I help you?" the cop behind the desk asked. The young man's eyes shifted back and forth.

"I would like to file a missing person's report," he said.

"Hang on," the cop said. He pulled out a notepad and a pencil.

"What is her name?" the cop asked.

"Joshuyo Niko," the young man said.

"Age?"

"Twenty."

"What does she look like?"

"Hang on." The young man pulled out his cell phone. After a few scrolls, he showed the police officer a picture on the screen. The cop took down more notes.

"When was the last time you heard from your sister?" he asked. The young man did a quick count on his fingers.

"About three weeks ago," he said. "She hasn't been picking up her phone. I tried calling and texting her, but nothing." The cop raised an eyebrow at him.

"You sure she just doesn't want to be left alone?" he asked. The young man gave him a blank stare.

"No, that's not like her!" he said. "She always answers when I call her and sometimes talks to Dad too."

"Excuse me, but where are you from?" the cope asked.

"Yokohama," the young man said.

"Did you try contacting the police there? Why came all the way down her to Ikebukuro?"

"Because my sister goes to college here. I know she went missing around here. Can't you help me?"

The cop finished writing down his notes. "I'll see what I can do." To the young man, his tone didn't sound so reassuring. Instead of calling him out on it, he bowed.

"Thank you, officer," the young man said. Outside the police station, he dropped his shoulders and sighed. Something told him that this was a waste of time. The young man rubbed his forehead.

"Looks like I'm on my own here," he said to himself.

* * *

-Shinra's Apartment-

Shinra typed away on his computer.

"[What are you doing again?]" Celty typed on her PDA.

"Looking for the other tadpoles in Japan," he said. The doctor preferred that his girlfriend didn't get mixed up in this. Michiko had to go and ruin that plan. Shinra sighed and brought up the list of tadpole subjects.

"Fifty-two, total," he said. "We've already found a small group of them. We still need to locate the others."

"[What do Shingen and Emilia plan to do with them once you find them?]" Celty typed.

"I have no idea," her boyfriend said.

"[Don't tell me they're going to…]" she began to type. Shinra gently pushed back her hands.

"I don't know," he said. "Dad won't tell me much. He just uses me to look up information about the Chou Mori Institution and the Tadpole Project and drags me around everywhere to track them down." He could see her worried expression through the shadows coming out of her headless neck.

"[Please be careful,]" Celty typed. "[And don't let your father turn them into guinea pigs. They are just kids.]"

"I will try my best," the Shinra assured her. He didn't sound too sure about that himself.

* * *

The young man with dark hair and glasses took a rest on a bench in Ikebukuro West Park. How could it be possible for everyone in the city not to see such a girl with bright blue eyes? He wasn't even sure they were looking at the picture. The young man doubted that the police officer took him seriously. Worse part was his father started asking questions.

"She's doing fine," the young man lied moments earlier.

"Can I speak to her?" the dad asked on the other line.

"Uh… We're in the library right now. She's working on a project and I'm helping her out. I just came outside to talk to you."

"For which class?"

The son rubbed the back of his head. "For one of her psychology classes. I don't know which one off of the top of my head."

"Do a good job with helping her."

"Thank you." The son's heart sank as he hung up. He didn't need his father to worry about Niko as well. The young man hoped to deal with this matter as quietly as he could and bring her home with dad none the wiser. But that didn't look it was going to be happening anytime soon.

_Am I going to have to tell him the truth?_

The young man puffed up his cheeks as he looked at the sky. Maybe it was because he was not from Tokyo, something seemed off about Ikebukuro ever since he first arrived at the police station this morning. He shook his head.

_I'm probably overthinking things because I'm upset._

He happened to look across the street to see a van with a maid cat girl on the door. The young man stared the design for a good ten second before finding himself getting up and walking over for a close. Who would have such a ridiculous-looking anime character on a van door when it didn't match the rest of the vehicle?

"Need something?" he heard someone ask. The young man jumped back. A man with short brown hair stuck his head out of the driver's side. The other man pointed to the van door.

"Why do you have a cat girl in a maid outfit on your door?" he asked. The driver groaned and dropped his head.

"Please don't ask!" he said. The other young man tilted his head as he walked up to the driver. He found another man in a green jacket and a black hat looking at him with the driver. Oh, two people in the van. The young man pulled out his cell phone.

"Have either you seen this woman?" he asked. The driver took the phone and looked at it with his passenger. The young lady in the picture had long black hair and silvery-blue eyes. Her face looked so pale against the darkened background.

"I don't think so," the passenger said.

"No," the driver said, handing him back the phone. "Why? Who is she?" The third man outside lowered his head.

"She's my sister," he said. His voice softened as he spoke.

Moments later, all three men sat on the bench in the park. The third man pushed his hair back from his forehead.

"What is your name?" the man with the green jacket asked. The man between him and the driver pulled his hands into his lap.

"Satoru," he said.

"I am Kadota and he is Saburo," the man in the green jacket said. Saburo waved on the other side.

"Did you go to the police?" Kadota asked.

"I did, but I don't think they took me seriously," Satoru said, sighing. "My sister and I are from Yokohama, but she came down to Ikebukuro for school."

"How old is your sister?" Saburo asked.

"Twenty," the third man said. "She's a junior in college. But she's had some problems over the years."

"You think she just wanted some time alone?" Kadota asked. Satoru shook his head.

"No," he said. "Besides, that's another reason I have to find her."

"What do you mean?" Kadota asked. Satoru pressed his lips together.

"Three weeks ago, I was in the post office in Yokohama," he said. "I had to pick up a package for dad while he was visiting his hometown for the weekend. I was waiting in line when some guy walked up to me, shouting.

"'You! Your grandfather ruined my wife's life!' he yelled. I asked him what he was talking about. He stood there yelling that his wife was part of my grandfather's cult and that they had raped her when she was a child. The whole time I stood there was a blank stare on my face. The security guards had to ask him to leave after about three minutes of hearing him yelling." Satoru looked at his audience.

"Are either of you two familiar with the Hyata sect?" he asked.

"Wasn't that that cult that got arrested for child abuse?" Kadota asked. Satoru nodded.

"My mother's family started the cult during the American occupation," he said. "I didn't any of this at the time. That guy yelling at me had startled and confused. When I got home, I called my dad and started asking questions." A broken smile came onto his face.

"He said, 'Aw shit.' I asked him what was wrong. He tried to dance around the subject before saying that he would explain everything when he got home. When he got back that Sunday and told me everything, oh buddy!" Satoru buried his head in his hands.

"So… you think your sister might have been a victim?" Kadota asked. The third man lifted his head.

"That's the only thing dad won't tell me," he said. "When I asked him, he just dodged it completely. After our parents divorced when we were kids, my sister went to go live with mom and I stayed with dad. By the time I was fourteen, Niko came to live with dad and me after dad got sole custody of both of us." Satoru sighed.

"Looking back, I noticed that Niko wasn't smiling like she used to," he said. "It felt she was forcing herself to act normal. One hint I got that something wasn't right with her was when we were staying along at our apartment one night while dad was visiting our grandparents. I was fifteen and Niko was thirteen at the time. I couldn't sleep that night for some reason. I heard a small clicking noise from across the hall. I get out of bed and walk over to Niko's room.

"She was sitting on her bed naked with a lit lighter in her hand. My sister was staring at the ceiling in a daze with her sheets on fire. I ran in there screaming and putting the fire out. I remember screaming at her and asking if she trying to burn the apartment down. Niko didn't really respond."

Satoru sighed. "I'm sorry if I sound like I'm rambling on. I just have to learn the truth."

"No," Kadota said. "You're just worried about your sister."

"Dad's had her in therapy for years," Satoru said. "When I tried to call Niko three nights ago, she didn't pick up. I just assumed she was sleeping at the time. I called the next morning and her roommate picked up. She told me she hadn't seen Niko for days. I tried calling the college and she hadn't been attending classes or therapy." He rubbed her forehead.

"I'm hoping she didn't do anything to hurt herself," he said.

"You'll probably find her," Saburo said. "She probably decided to get away or something." Satoru had heard those words before, but talking to these guys didn't make it sound that bad. He looked up at the sky with his phone in his hand.

* * *

-Tadpoles-

Tetsu sent a text to the tadpoles in his group the library.

"I'm heading out to meet some friends for a bit," he said as he walked out the door.

"Call me before you get home," Taichi said in the living room. "Take care." His partner put on his sneakers and headed out the door. He took comfort in knowing that Taichi was happy that he was finally making friends again.

Tetsu counted down to when his impulses would spring again as he walked into the city. He hoped that he enough self-control to talk to his brother and sisters. They couldn't stay Kitano's little toys for his amusement any longer. There had to be a way to break this cycle. They would have to find the answer at all costs.

The fire tadpole sat hidden in the back of the library. He figured if he was going to have an episode, best it be far away from other people. Tetsu didn't know when he started to grow a spine. Maybe it was when he learned about what happened to him at Chou Mori or maybe it was when he learned that he would be stuck with these fire powers forever. Either way, he decided to stop being scared and fight back.

Tetsu froze as a chill raced up his spine. He looked up to see Mikado, Masaomi, and the tadpole girls standing at his table. Right away, the fire tadpole's eyes locked on the normal boy beside Mikado.

"I am not leaving his side," Masaomi said as Tetsu glared at him. Mikado sighed and rubbed his forehead. The fire tadpole started to open his mouth, but rolled his eyes instead.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"Why did you call us out here?" Nami asked. Tetsu put his gloved hands on the table.

"I'm going to come out and say it," he said. "I don't trust those Nebula guys."

"Okay, so?" Akiko asked.

"Think about it," the older tadpole said. "Why would this strange group want to help us? I doubt that they would do this from the kindness of their hearts. I wonder what their angle is."

"You don't think they could want to…" Kohaku said as her voice trembled. Nami squeezed her hand.

"It's possible," Tetsu said. "What I'm trying to say is that we can't trust them. So far, we have our group to hang onto to get through this mess. Plus, that other doctor said there were fifty-two others like us out there."

"What are you suggesting?" Mikado asked. Tetsu reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"I took the liberty of stealing a copy of the Chou Mori Tadpole list yesterday," he said.

"Tetsu-san, you didn't!" Emily said, gasping. The older tadpole gritted his teeth.

"It was during an episode that day!" he shouted. "It's not my fault!"

"Shhh!" a librarian said in the next row over. Tetsu breathed heavy as he could hear his voice in his head.

_Yell "shut up!"_

"What about the list?" Mikado was question ask. Tetsu snapped out his episode and cleared his throat.

"I am going to send you the list right now," he said. He went into his message and composed a text with the file as an attachment. The fire tadpole hit send with his thumb. The tadpoles' phones buzzed, causing them to pull them and look at them.

"Okay…" Akiko said. "What are we supposed to do with this list?" Tetsu shrugged his hands.

"Track them down, I guess," he said. All eyes fell on him.

"How?" Emily asked.

"E-mail them," Mikado said. Everyone turned their focus on him.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," he said.

"But what could we say?" Kohaku asked.

"We could just keep it simple," Mikado suggested.

"That might work," Tetsu said. A warm feeling developed in his chest. He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

* * *

-Satoru-

Satoru walked up Niko's apartment and pulled out his phone.

"Hey dad," he said. "I think I'm going to stay in Ikebukuro for a little while. I just need to get away for a bit. Niko's in the shower right now. I'll have her call you back. Bye." Satoru hung up before his dad could say another word. His hand trembled as he held his phone.


	5. Paranoia

Halo Four: Paranoia:

It was a little after one in the morning when a nurse awoke from her slumber. She was immediately drawn to the sound of someone speaking in hushed tones from her bedroom. Initially, she thought that she was still dreaming.

"Who is that in my house?" she thought to herself. Ignoring her peaked curiosity, the nurse turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Minutes passed. She lifted her head when the talking still hadn't stopped. "Who is that?" she wondered.

The nurse slowly dragged herself out of her warm bed and wandered down to her living room where the air was nippy. What met her was, her six-year-old son. He stood at the front door with it cracked slightly open. Therefore, it was no surprise that the downstairs living area was colder than normal.

"Honey, who are you talking to?" she asked her son. The little boy turned his head.

"The man outside," he answered.

"Huh?" his mother asked. The nurse pushed the child aside and opened the door.

"I don't see anybody out here," she said.

"But he's right in front of you," her son exclaimed.

"Come on, quit playing around and go back to bed," his mother told him sternly, not in the mood for playing games.

"I'm not lying," the little boy retorted. "There is a man outside and he's wearing a thick black coat with glowing yellow eyes." His serious, hushed tone made the nurse freeze. Her son looked past her at the man in question.

* * *

-Hours Earlier-

"Can I have my phone back, Masaomi-kun?" Mikado asked.

"Nope," Masaomi said as he looked through the ramen in the 7-11. "You heard what that guy said. I can't have you starting another gang war because your felt like it."

"I won't do that, I promise."

"I know you won't, because I'm not giving you back your phone." Masaomi turned to see his best friend, frowning.

"Look, I'm only doing this to keep you out of trouble," he said. "Think of it like being grounded for three days."

"Really?" Mikado asked with a flat tone. It didn't help that Masaomi had disconnected his keyboard and mouse back at his apartment.

"Oh come on!" Mikado complained this morning. Masaomi was already awake in the futon.

"I'm doing this for you," he said. Mikado flopped back on his floor, making this loud whining noise. Back in present day, Masaomi picked out several more packs of ramen and put them into basket. Every few seconds, he'd glance over his shoulder to check if the tadpole boy was still beside him. Mikado dropped his shoulders, panting heavily.

"I'm eighteen years old! I don't need a fucking baby-sitter, damn it!" he complained aloud. All eyes fell on him in the coinvent store. Masaomi stood up, looking at him.

"Apparently, you do," he said as a red-faced Mikado hung his head. The blonde boy put his arm around his shoulders.

"And buddy, I'm not a baby-sitter. I'm your body guard," he said. His best friend rolled his eyes.  _Same difference._

_He may hate me for this_ , Masaomi thought.  _But I'm doing this to keep him safe._

"I know you're trying to help me," Mikado said once he recomposed himself. "But it feels like you're smothering me."

"It can't be helped," his friend said. At this point, the founder of the Dollars realized it would be pointless to keep up this argument with his overprotective best friend.

"Fine," Mikado grumbled. Masaomi patted him on the back and let go.

"If you behave yourself for the rest of this shopping trip, I might buy you ice cream," he said.

"Shut up, Masaomi-kun," Mikado said under his breath.

* * *

The boys made it out of the 7-11 without further incident. They were just about to head home when Mikado froze and turned around.

"Mikado?" Masaomi asked. The other boy started walking towards an empty space.

"Where are you going?!" his friend asked. Mikado could barely hear his friend's voice. One more step and he vanished into thin air.

Mikado opened his eyes as his body felt cold. He quickly looked around, but could only see a haze of faded green.

"Hello?" he asked. "Masaomi-kun? Where did you go?" His mouth moved to speak, but no sound came out. Mikado tried not to panic as he searched for a way out. The only thing he remembered was hearing a high-pitched dog whistle and walking towards the sound. Cold air trickled along his back. Mikado neared his eyes. This looked like the same spot he was standing in, but something felt off.

"Sumiko-chan!" a man's voice called. Mikado looked up ahead. The alleyway up ahead was in black and white. A girl of sixteen ran up against a wooden fence. Her vivid red dress stood out against the dull color scheme. She tried to look at which direction to run in.

"Sumiko-chan!" the same man's voice called, making her freeze. The predator in question walked closer to the panting girl. He looked like he was part of the Yakuza with his black hair slicked back and 80's style Western suit. He held out a knife as he walked closer to the trembling girl. The man grabbed her by the cheeks and caressed the tip of blade by her face. His prey broke down into tears.

"Please let me go," she begged. The gangster smirked as he shook his head.

"Sumiko-chan, you owe me, remember?" he asked. He moved his knife down to her chest.

"No!" the poor girl yelped. The thug gritted his teeth and smacked her in the face.

"You little bitch!" he snapped. "You whores are all the same! I'm going to give you what I did to your cunt friend!" The yakuza man grabbed her by the shoulders.

"No! Get off of me! No!" Sumiko cried as she tried to fight him off. She managed to hit him in the face. The yakuza man's nostrils flared.

"Bitch!" he snapped. The cruel man ripped at her bright red dress. Sumiko screamed.

"Get off of her!" Mikado yelled as he ran towards the pair.

"Mikado!" Masaomi shouted behind. The tadpole boy turned to see his best friend standing behind him. The scenery around him returned to normal. Masaomi gave him a concerned look.

"Where did you go man?" he asked. Mikado shock his head as he pointed behind him.

"There was a guy about to rape a girl over there," he said at last.

"Huh?" Masaomi asked as he looked behind his friend. "There's no one there." Mikado whipped around.

"They were right there!" he shouted. "The guy had a knife and to that girl's cheek. She had on a bright red dress." Masaomi took hold of him by the shoulder.

"You vanished before my eyes," he said. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"

"I… I don't know," the tadpole boy said. "I heard like a whistling noise behind us. When I walked over to see what it was, I disappeared into this strange place where I saw that man about to hurt that girl in the red dress." Mikado froze as his stomach turned.

"Am I am going crazy again?" he asked. Masaomi pulled him into his arms.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered. "I won't let that happen to you." Mikado let himself collapse in his friend's arms.

* * *

-3:00 a.m.-

He sat in his darkened apartment, trembling. Nobody could've known all of this time. He was sure that no one was there that night. Why now? Who else saw him? It didn't help that the statute of limitations on murder was done away with three years ago. What if that witness went to the police and told them everything? What if the police decided to re-open that case? What if they found his DNA?

He tightly shut his eyes and trembled. Why did he have to go to  _that_  7-11 three days ago?

* * *

"Did you time travel or something?" Masaomi asked back at Mikado's apartment.

"Huh?" he asked.

"That's the only thing I can think of," the Shogun boy said. "You must have disappeared into some black hole, went back in time, saw those people you were talking, and came back. That's all I have. Did you hear any names?" Mikado took a moment to think.

"Sumiko, I think," he said. "She had on a bright red dress."

"Right," Masaomi said. He pulled up Google on his phone. Mikado looked up as the blonde-haired boy typed in the information.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Masaomi turned his phone to him.

"Is this her?" he asked. Mikado saw a picture of a girl with a round baby face. Her smile made her look much cuter. Her short black hair and bangs made her face look smaller. Mikado about jumped backwards.

"Yes!" he said. "That's her! That's Sumiko." Masaomi had to shush him a little bit.

"Okay," he said. He tapped the link on the screen that led to a page from a notorious cold case site.

"Idane Sumiko, age sixteen," Masaomi read. "Her body was found in an alley just down from an old gas station. The victim had been stabbed over thirty times after her throat was slit. Ripped stockings and her panties around her ankle indicated sexual assault. Idane didn't die without a struggle. There was skin under her fingernails, but no matches have been made. Despite public pleas from her parents, the murderer has never been caught."

"When did this happen?" his friend asked. The blonde shogun scrolled up on his phone.

"It says she was killed in summer of 1985," he said. "Idane was last seen with her friends at a disco."

"I saw who killed her," Mikado said in a low voice.

"And what do you plan on doing about it?" his friend asked.

"I don't know," the tadpole boy said.

"Do you even know his name?"

"No."

"Mikado, don't do anything stupid."

"I won't, I promise." The tadpole boy saw the concerned look on his best friend's face. "Please don't look at me like that. I promise I won't do anything." Masaomi put his arm around his shoulders.

"Be very careful," he said.

"I will," Mikado said. He didn't need to hear Masaomi's thoughts to know that he didn't believe him for a second.

* * *

-Saturday-

Day one of the experiment was complete.

"Why are we out here again?" Masaomi asked as he and Mikado were walking the crowded streets of Ikebukuro.

"We're just on a walk," Mikado said. His best friend lied.

"With that eye patch over your right eye?" he asked.

"Yep," the tadpole boy said.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with finding out Sumiko's killer, would it?"

"You won't believe me if I say otherwise, would you?"

"No."

"Exactly."

Masaomi narrowed his eyes. "Are you having another episode?"

"No."

"Right…"

By this time, Mikado tuned him off and started looking around. All of the demons were sitting on their humans' shoulders as usual. If his impulsive hunch was correct, Mikado was looking for a man in his fifties with a panicked demon on his shoulder. It didn't help the other demons of the city were distracting him.

_If I don't make the deadline, I'll lose my job!_

_I need another drink._

_Will I ever be good enough for his family?_

_He's just using me for sex, isn't he?_

_She made me promise not to tell, but it doesn't feel right._

Mikado gritted his teeth, but recomposed himself. Getting annoyed with the constant chatter of demons around them wasn't going to get him anywhere. He already had Masaomi tagging along on this mission. His demon didn't shut up about Saki or the tadpole boy himself.

_Do you mind keeping it down? I'm trying to look for something here._

Masaomi's demon stuck out its tongue at him, but closed its mouth. Mikado didn't get take to relish in the amazement of making an inner demon obey him because his senses picked up something else.

_What should I do? I don't have that kind of money. If that witness goes to the police, I'm screwed. That girl deserved it, can't they see that?_

Mikado looked around in the crowded streets for the source. He hadn't had much chances to strengthen his powers due to reaching out to the other tadpoles. But in this case, he would have to try and find that demon and its human.

"Come on, where you, old man?" Mikado asked.

"Mikado?" Masaomi asked. The tadpole froze as soon as he spotted his target. Up ahead, a man in his fifties kept his head down as he tried to disappear further into the crowd. Mikado gave chase.

"Mikado!" Masaomi yelled. The tadpole boy only focused on the demon of Sumiko's killer.  _You won't get away, old man! I don't know what I'm going to do with you yet, but I want to see your face for myself!_

"What are you going to do when you track this guy down?" the blonde shogun asked.

"Don't know," Mikado said. "I just want to see his face." The founder of the Dollars marched further into the crowd.

"Mikado, wait!" Masaomi yelled. He had to run to keep up with his friend.

* * *

The boys ended up in one of the more run-down streets in Ikebukuro. By now, the frenzy of the impulse episode had worn off and Mikado had a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Want to go back now?" Masaomi asked.

"I don't know," Mikado said in a low voice. That old man's demon wouldn't let him turn around. Even from the street, he could hear it talking faster and shouting.

"Do you even know which apartment it is?" the leader of the Yellow Scarves asked.

"Yes!" Mikado was quick to say.

"Then you tell me where it is and I'll lead the way this time," Masaomi said. He put up his hand just as Mikado tried to argue back.

"You led us here without a plan," the blonde boy said. "Now let me stop you before you end up making it worse. We don't even know if this old man has any weapons or not." Mikado tried to say something, but ended up closing his mouth.

"Fine," he muttered.

"Good," Masaomi said. "Now tell me which apartment it is."

"407, it's the last building on the right," Mikado said.

"Alright," the blonde shogun said. He turned and started walking down the empty street. Mikado followed close behind, regretting his nosy impulse getting the better of him this morning.

"Keep going up ahead," he said.

"Thanks," Masaomi said. Within ten minutes, they reached their destination. Masaomi knocked on the door.

"Go away!" an old man yelled.

"Listen, we just want to talk to you for a bit…" Masaomi said. He paused and looked at the sign next to the door.

"Eto-san!" the blond shogun said. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to talk."

"Liar!" Eto-san shouted. "You're just here for the money! I told you, I don't have anything!" It didn't take Mikado long to figure out what happened just by listening to the inner demon inside the apartment.

"Who tried to blackmail you?" he asked. Masaomi whipped his head around.

"I don't know!" the old man shouted. "I just got this letter three days ago and the calls won't stop!"

"Could you show us this letter?" the leader of the Yellow Scarves asked. "We just want to talk. We don't want your money." The boys waited for a few seconds before a piece of paper slid out from under the door. Masaomi picked it up and unfolded it. The characters looked like a cliché of newspaper and magazines cut out and glued to the front. Sumiko's face was glued to the bottom of the page.

"I saw what you did that night," Masaomi read. "It makes me sick. Pay up 8,272,047.71¥ or I will go to the police."

"Who sent you this?" Mikado asked.

"I don't know!" Sumiko's killer yelled. "Go away! You just want money too! You're not going to get anything from me! That little bitch got what she deserved! Her friend was a lying whore who pimped that slut out to me! Both of them are nothing but lying whores!" Masaomi gritted his teeth and kicked the door. His foot left an indent in the door.

"You!" he shouted. Mikado grabbed onto him before he kicked down the door.

"Let's go, I got what I wanted," he said. The blonde-haired boy gritted his teeth.

"You're right," he muttered. Both boys turned and left.

* * *

Meanwhile, he walked his way up to Eto-san's apartment. It felt good to be the one in power of that cruel old man. For years, Eto-san was known as the big bully around the block. He mistreated every girlfriend that he ever had since his twenties. He constantly ripped off those that depended on him for money. His children described the old man as monster. The neighbors on the block wished they could put that evil old man in his place.

This young man finally got the chance.

It all began with a trip to the 7-11 across town. It started out as a slow spring night. His rent was due and he needed a scheme to get money. The thug's uncle and friends refused to give him money this time. ("Pay back what you owe first!" they all told him.) While browsing the magazines, the young man wondered how he was going to get more money before he was thrown out on the streets. Right now, he didn't see anything he wanted to buy. His luck turned when he stepped out those glass doors. For he too had stepped into that same portal that Eto-san and Mikado would end up. He too saw his vile neighbor's crime back in 1985. Poor Sumiko couldn't escape from that yakuza predator with his knife. Meanwhile, the young man instantly recognized who it was.

_Wait… Is that…?_

There was his neighbor. Eto Genjo. Here he was terrorizing a sixteen-year-old girl before raping and murdering her. The young man watched as he remembered that Sumiko's case had never been solved. Genjo was a person of interest, but there was no evidence at the time to tie him to the crime. Witnesses were too scared of this man to speak.

But now, the young man saw the answer.

When he came back to reality in the present, he formed a scheme to get money and exact revenge in one go.

However, it is not wise to taunt a cornered animal.

* * *

-5:00 p.m.-

Mikado and Masaomi started heading back home. The leader of the Yellow Scarves turned to his friend.

"Aren't you going to take that eyepatch off now?" he asked. "You got what you came for."

"Oh, right," Mikado said. "I almost forgot I had it on." He reached up to take his eyepatch off. But then, he froze.

"What is it now?" Masaomi asked.

"I just saw who's been blackmailing Eto-san," his friend said in a low tone.

"Huh? Where?" the blonde shogun asked. Mikado pointed up ahead at him. Masaomi turned around. A man about nineteen-years-old with dyed blonde hair walked up the street towards the direction they were leaving from. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets while he grinned like a monkey. The boys counted about twelve piercings on his face. His black t-shirt and matching baggy jeans completed his look.

"You can see his demons?" Masaomi whispered. Mikado nodded once. The muscled green demon on his shoulder chanted money like it had been snorting coke for days. Its human stopped when he noticed the boys staring at him.

"What'cha looking at?!" he shouted. Masaomi tried to think of something to say. But Mikado began breathing heavily again. His friend's eyes shifted towards him.

"Stop blackmailing that old man," the tadpole boy said. The thug raised his eyebrow.

"Why should I?" he asked.

"He's like a loose cannon," Mikado said. Masaomi put his hand on his shoulder, but the tadpole boy pushed him off. The older boy snorted.

"So what?" he asked. "That old bastard deserved it! He's been a total asshole to us all! When I saw what he did, I figured I would make some money and get a little payback!" Masaomi smacked himself in the forehead.

"Oh great," he muttered. The old man they had talked to and that portal were a huge tank of gasoline and here came this asshole with the matches.

"You!" someone yelled at all three boys. They turned to see Genjo with a gun in his hand. The thug held out his arms.

"Well, well, well," he said. "If it isn't the Tiger of the Block himself? Not so brave now, are you? Have you found who your blackmailer is yet? You better hurry or you'll be going off to jail!" Masaomi rolled his eyes.

"Is he really that dumb?" he asked. Genjo gritted his teeth.

"You!" he snapped. "You can all go to hell!" The old man lifted his gun and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Mikado yelled. He jumped in the way of Masaomi.

"Mikado!" his friend shouted.

But then, everything froze. Mikado looked around. Everything except for him was frozen like it was on pause.

"Huh?" he asked. "What just happened?" The boy froze as a chill ran down his spine.  _No way…_  Mikado turned to see a woman about twenty-four-year-old with long brown hair standing with the same shocked expression on her face as him. She held up her index and middle fingers on her right hand.

"Are you doing this?" Mikado asked.

"Yes," she said. "How come you're not frozen like everyone else? Wait… are you…?"

"Yes," he said. The woman looked at the crowd of men in the scene.

"Which one of you is Mikado?" she asked.

"Me," Mikado said. "But who are you?" The woman smiled with her fingers still in the air.

"Amano Midori," she answered. "And right now, I am keeping you and your little frozen friend over there from getting killed."


	6. Midori

Halo Five: Midori:

-Midori-

I started having strange memories around last year. They came in bits and pieces. It all began when I was eight years old. My mother and father never married, but they remained good friends. I won't bore you with my whole life story. But, I will tell about how I ended up as a tadpole.

I may not remember the whole nightmare, but I remember how it began. It started out as a normal day. At the time, it was Papa's weekend. He took me out shopping for grandma's birthday. Mama dropped me off at Denny's so that Papa and I could have breakfast together. As far as I could remember, everything looked like it was to be another fun visit with Papa's side of the family. I ordered my usual of pancakes while Papa had ramen.

"Why do you order ramen or curry when we come here?" I asked him that morning.

"They have good ramen here," he said.

"Can I try some?" I asked. Papa laughed.

"Only if you let me have some of your pancakes," he said. I frowned and rubbed my forehead.

"Okay," I said. My pancakes were soft and fluffy like usual. Papa stole a chunk from them and let me have little bit of his ramen. I remember it was too spicy for me. My little eyes and nose started running. Papa took his napkin and wiped my face.

"Drink some of your milk," he said. I chugged it down as fast I could. I had some of my pancakes to combat the heat.

"Too hot," I complained. Papa laughed as he patted me on the head.

"Maybe you'll appreciate when you're a bit older," he said. I frowned as I stuffed more pancakes in my mouth. Papa paid for breakfast and we headed to the mall. I kind of don't remember which store we were in. I think it was one of those little shops that sold gift trinkets. Either was, I was very bored. I wandered around until I came to the greeting card section. I saw this birthday card with a pig in a party hat. For some reason, I grabbed the card and stuffed it in my coat. I was about to head back to my Papa at the counter when I heard someone say, "Psst!" When I turned around, someone pat a cloth over my mouth. The last thing I could remember was struggling to get away and everything going black.

From there, my memory breaks into pieces. I remember being in a grey room with no windows. Someone showing me flash cards. A light being flashed in my eyes. The overwhelming smell of bleach. Being strapped down to a metal table. Needles going into my body.

I've had these memories over the years, but they never came together in a single narration. Probably would explain why Papa acted so overprotective of me when I spent the weekends with him after that day. If I went out alone to the places like a convenient, he would call me about every ten minutes. He'd ask where I was, who I was with, and when I would be coming home. I think it was because he blamed himself for my kidnapping years ago. I almost found it annoying at times. I wished that I could tell him that it wasn't his fault and I was just being a careless kid, but I don't think he would he do that. Throughout my childhood, my parents would ask about my well-being every single day. Despite everything trying to be normal, I couldn't help that something wasn't right with me. When I did bring up some of these memories I had, Mama and Papa would try to pass it off as a nightmare that I had. As much I tried to believe him, but they all felt too real. So real that it made my skin crawl. Despite my memories and the uneasy feeling, I lived a normal life.

Until last year.

It all started back in December around final exams. I was in the middle of my entrance exams for med school when I had a sharp headache. I couldn't breathe and my vision became blurred while things started to spin.

"Are you okay, Amano-san?" the professor asked. Her voice sounded so distant and pushed underwater. A veil of black covered me as I hit the floor.

While I was sleeping in the nurse's office, the old memories of that place came back, but this time they felt much stronger. Newer memories blended in with the old ones I had before. Voices asking about if this was only to do something to me because I was so small.

"It's fine," a man's voice said. "We've done this project on those twins back in '89. And they were only five." Pairs of hands grabbed me by the arms and dragged me down a darkened hall smelling like bleach.

I woke up in the nurse's office panting.

"Oh good, you're awake," the nurse said. I stared at her with big eyes.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"Your classmates said you got sick and passed out in the middle of your exam," she said. "They all thought it was nerves." I slowly shook my head. I didn't believe it was nerves, but something much sinister. Instead of saying as such, I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I did get to finish my exam the next day.

It got worse on January eleventh.

The night before I had grown ill and I couldn't explain why. It started with the dizzy spells in the late evening. My parents and I were out celebrating me getting into medical school. No sooner had we walked into the restaurant had the symptoms and the memories started to hit. The whole entry way started spinning as I tried to keep my balance.

"Midori-chan?" Mama asked. "Sweetheart?" Everything around me kept fading in and out as I swung my hand around for something, anything. Small gaps of time disappeared as I remembered standing outside, vomiting. Papa stood over me with his hand on my shoulder as I panted.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No!" I wailed. I saw myself sitting in a chair back in that horrible place with wires attached to my forehead.

"Are you sure this is okay to do this on her?" a man's voice asked. "She's only a little girl."

"She can take it," a woman said. "This is a very strong little girl. She's survived all of our experiments so far." I could feel the electrocutions all over again. My body broke down trembling before it went limp.

"Call 119!" was the last thing I heard out of Papa's mouth.

When I came to in the hospital, I had a feeling something was quite off.

"Hello?" I asked. I was indeed in the hospital, but I couldn't hear a thing. My eyes trailed over to the clock on the window.

10:00 a.m.

I looked around for a second before I turned my head to the doorway. A nurse looked like was about to walk into my room and check on me. I tilted my head as a confused look covered my face. Why was she still standing there?

"Ma'am?" I asked. She didn't respond or move from where she stood. I climbed out of bed and walked over to her. (To my surprise, my body felt so light.)

"Hello?" I asked. The nurse didn't budge as she stood where she was.  _Wait… Is she…?_  I looked around in the hallway. It looked like I had walked into a TV show on pause. Everyone else except for me was frozen. After spending the time walking around and seeing if people were really frozen, more questions rose in my mind. How did this happen? Why was this happening? I pinched myself in the cheek, but nothing changed.

"Hello?" I asked again. "Is anyone still moving?" How long was it going to be like this? How was I even going to fix it? I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Sadly, I drew a blank and dropped my right hand by my side. And just like that, everyone started moving around like someone hit play. I about jumped at this sudden change. What just happened?

"Amano-san?" I heard behind me. I turned to see that nurse who was calling into my room eyeing me and she caught her breath.

"Uh… hi…" I said, waving. I chuckled as my eyes shifted left and right. Like hell I was going to tell her that everything around me froze in time.

"What are you doing out in the lobby?" the nurse asked. "When do you wake up?"

"I just got up and felt like walking around for a bit," I said. "I'm okay now. I don't know what happened to me last night."

"Let's get you back to your room," she said.

"Really, I'm fine now," I said. "Could I check myself out?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Shouldn't you have a doctor exam you first?" the nurse asked. I rubbed my forehead.

"I'm fine, really," I said. "I just want to go home."

"At least let me contact your family," she said. "Please, I will feel better if I did." She's not going to give up, is she? I threw back my head and groaned.

"Alright," I said. "But I'm only going back to my room to get dressed." I followed that nurse back to my room. No, I didn't figure about everything freeze around me. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or I slept walked out of my room. If I voiced this to the nurse, she would try to keep me in that hospital longer than I wanted. No, I just wanted to go home.

But then, my cell phone rang as I changed into the fresh set of clothes Mama had left for me overnight.

"Hello?" I asked, thinking it was her or Papa calling to check on me.

"Good morning, Little Bird," a man's voice said on the other line. The color drained from my face as I froze.

"Who is this?" I asked as my eyes shifted back and forth.

"I see that you don't have all of your memory back yet, Little Bird," he said. "So allow me to re-introduce myself. I am Kitano-sensei and you are one of my tadpoles in out Tadpole Project."

"Tadpole project?" More flashes of memories skipped around in my head. I started to feel the body running through my body again.

"It's okay," Kitano-sensei said. "You're just experiencing your awakening."

"My awakening?" I tried to battle through a pounding heartache as it felt like there was a war in my body.

"Have you experienced any strange happenings before I called you? It is not in your interest to lie, Little Bird. We have been watching all of you for quite some time now."

My eyes widened as I sank to my knees. "Everything froze around me. I couldn't figure out what happened, but when I dropped my head, everything started moving again." I didn't know why I would confess any of this to this faceless monster. Something in his voice commanded to surrender all obedience to him. It still scares me now.

"Ho! This makes things very interest," Kitano-sensei said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You will see your powers for what they are," he said. "We will talk later. I have to go and talk to your brothers and sisters as well."

"Brothers and sisters? But I'm an only child. You're not making any sense."

"We will talk later." He hung up before I could ask any more questions. I stared at my phone, shaking. I couldn't tell if I was angry or scared.

Up until this point, I have been learning how to control time. Kitano's cruel experiments have pushed me to begrudgingly do so. Because of him, I lost my hearing for three straight days. When I woke up that morning and found everything around me completely quiet. At first, I thought my roommate had went on ahead of me. Imagine my shock when I saw her standing in the doorway. She was asking me something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

"What?" I asked repeatedly, shouting. My roommate finally threw my buzzing phone at me. When I looked at the text, my stomach dropped. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be the last time Kitano-sensei would torture.

To my amazement, I found others like me in the same boat.

* * *

-Present Day-

Mikado tilted his head.

"How are you freezing time like this?" he asked. Midori raised her eyebrow.

"With my fingers…" she said.

"Oh yeah," he said. "But why are you helping us? How did you even find us?"

"I was sent here by Kishitani-sensei after his dad traced your phone."

"What? What for?"

"They seemed to have discovered something else about us. You have to come with me right now."

"But…" Mikado turned back to Masaomi, he blackmailer, and Genjo frozen in time. Midori looked at scene.

"Ah," she said.

"How are you going to unfreeze this?" he asked.

She broke into a little smile. "I will show you. But first, you might want to grab that bullet first."

"Oh," Mikado said. He reached over and took down the bullet. Midori dropped her right arm by her side. Masaomi stumbled forward when the scene came unpaused. Mikado grabbed him as fast as he could. Genjo fired five more shots before he ran out of bullets. The blackmailer fell to the ground, two bullets hitting him in shoulder and one in the abdomen. He screamed as the last bullet flew past him.

"You shot me!" the blackmailer screamed. "You fucking shot me!" Genjo stood panting before running away. Mikado and Masaomi looked at the screaming blackmailer on the ground. The latter turned to the new tadpole girl.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"Amano Midori," the female tadpole said. "I'm another tadpole just like your friend there."

"Another one?" Masaomi asked.

"Yeah," she said. "And we have to get to the doctor's apartment. There is something that he wants to tell us."

"But what do we do with him?" Mikado asked, looking at the blackmailer shot on ground, trying to stop the blood from his wounds.

"I've got it," the female tadpole said. Midori took out her phone and dialed 119.

"Hello, I would like to report a man being shot," she said. "It looks pretty bad. Send an ambulance right away." She hung up and turned to the guy on the ground.

"I have no idea what happened," Midori said, looking at his bullet wounds. "But judging by your wounds and disposition, I think you're going to be fine." She looked around at the neighborhood.

"The ambulance will be here in a few minutes," Midori said. Mikado listened deep into the distance. The wail of the sirens could be heard miles away.

"Shall we get going?" Midori asked.

"You sure it's okay to leave him here?" Mikado asked.

"Yeah," Midori said. "It doesn't sound like he's losing too much blood in his body." The blackmailer stared at three remaining people.

"What the fuck?!" he shouted. "Who are you people?!"

"Just people passing by," Masaomi lied. "And don't try to blackmail paranoid old men with guns again. You are just that stupid." The blackmailer gritted his teeth.

"You!" he snapped. The young man tried to get up, but howled in pain and sat back on the ground. Masaomi shook his head and left with Mikado and Midori.

* * *

-Shinra and Celty's Apartment-

Shinra, Celty, Shingen, Emilia, and the other tadpoles waited for the trio in the living room. Nami, Kohaku, and Emily all sat around Celty. They looked like little girls clinging to their mother. Emilia held a tablet in her hand.

"We're here now," Midori said.

"[Welcome back,]" Celty typed. Emilia ran her finger across the screen of her tablet before she turned it off.

"What's going on here?" Mikado asked as he looked at the group across the room. To him, he couldn't help but get the feeling was a little bit off.

"We discovered something quite interesting this morning," Emilia said. "Can you see it, Ryugamine-kun?"

"What the do you mean?" he asked.

"You can see people's inner demons, right?" Shinra asked.

"Yes," Mikado said. "Why?" It donned on him that someone in the crowd was missing. Mikado quickly counted everyone on both sides of the room.

"Hey, Emily, what's Taiyou?" he asked.

"Taiyou?" Masaomi asked.

"He's Emily's spirit guardian creature," Mikado said as he turned to his best friend/bodyguard. But then, he froze. In five seconds, his jaw dropped.

"Kida-kun, your demon's gone!" he said.

"Huh?" Masaomi asked.

"And there it is," Shingen said.

"What is he talking about?" Mikado asked Shinra. The younger doctor looked over at his girlfriend.

"Do you want to tell them?" he asked.

"Celty?" Mikado asked.

"[Shingen and Emilia were running tests on Midori and the others when we came home,]" Celty typed on her PDA. "[Apparently, I seemed to have stopped all of their powers.]" Mikado stared at the screen for a few seconds before a confused look came over his face.

"Huh?" he asked. He looked up Shingen and Emilia.

"What is she talking about?" Mikado asked. "Where's Taiyou and we can't I see anyone else's demons right now?"

"Well, it's a little harder to say," Shingen said. "We can't figure out ourselves."

"Everything in their stats went blank," Emilia added. "At first, we thought it was the equipment."

"I about freaked out when Taiyou vanished," Emily said.

"We couldn't hear outside of the city or in bodies," Akiko added.

"I had a guess of what was going on," Shinra said. "So, I asked Celty to step outside of the apartment for a minute."

"And everything returned to normal?" Mikado asked as he took off his eyepatch.

"[Yes,]" Celty typed. Mikado tried to piece together what he had just learned. A puzzled look came onto his face.

"How is that even possible?" Mikado asked at last.

"[We haven't figured that out yet,]" Celty typed. Meanwhile, Shinra looked over at his father. Knowing that old man, he was probably enjoying this right now.

_Dad, don't try anything on Celty or the tadpoles_ , he thought. The young doctor's promise to his girlfriend suddenly became more complicated.

"What happens now?" Mikado asked.

"I don't really know," Shinra admitted.

"We're probably going to run more tests on both you and Celty," Shingen said without missing a point.

"[Heh?!]" Celty typed. "[How did I get pulled into this?!]" Tetsu rolled his eyes meanwhile.

"Well, we have to know how far away you have to be from them before they can use their powers without any trouble," Shingen pointed out. His son glared at him. He was used to him and his step-mother experimenting on Celty, but this reasoning all reeked of something sinister.

"Do you have to?" Nami asked. "I actually like feeling normal for a change." She scooted closed to Celty as if to defend her from Shingen and his wife. Kohaku did the same.

"[But you can't stay by me all of the time,]" Celty typed. Nami puffed up her cheeks as she frowned.

"Don't remind me," she muttered. Mikado turned back to Midori as another thought came back into his head.

"How did you find all of us?" he asked. The newest addition to the group raised her eyebrow.

"Me?" Midori asked. "Ah, hang on." She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her texts.

"I got it this morning from Shinra," the new tadpole said. She found the message and showed it to Mikado. The tadpole boy read it to himself.

"Ah, yes," Shinra spoke up. "I finally managed to get in contact with Amano-san this morning and convinced her to meet with the rest of you guys."

_She really shouldn't trust these guys if she was smart_ , Tetsu thought. He still wondered how long before Shingen, Emilia, and Shinra would show their true intent for the tadpoles. For now, it helped to have a new ally in their group. Tetsu just needed to get her alone and start asking questions long enough to know her motives.

* * *

-Rampo Biotech-

Etsuko hit stop on her recorder.

"Well?" she asked. Kitano thought about this latest development.

"That could explain why all of the signals from their tracking bugs died for the ten minutes they did," he said. The therapist looked down at his tablet.

"I didn't expect the dullahan to turn into such an obstacle," he said. "And our pets aren't even at the level they need to be at." Kitano-sensei lifted his head.

"How many more days until this experiment clears?" he asked. Etsuko did a quick count on her fingers.

"Two days, I believer," she said. Kitano sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"It can't be helped," he muttered. "Looks like we'll have to carry on with the experiments in the tadpole project and figure out how the dullahan can neutralize their powers."

"But how are we going to obtain a sample from Athena?" Etsuko asked. "No blood runs through her body, we can't get a saliva or hair sample, and we can't even get close enough to them." Kitano glanced up at her.

"Athena?" he asked.

"I figured that it would fit her," the doctor said. "Both of them are warriors and can handle their own in battles."

"Meh," her partner said.

"I could get you a sample from Celty," a familiar voice said. Izaya sat across the room in the shadows. Kitano frowned and glanced over at him.

"May I ask how?" he asked. The information broker smirked as he shrugged.

"Let's just say I have a very good source of the sample," Izaya said. "And I'm in a generous mood today. So, I will let you have it for free." Kitano turned his attention over to Etsuko.

"I do not trust this bastard, but it can't be helped right now," her eyes told him. The therapist turned to Izaya.

"Show us this sample," he said.

"I'll have to go back to my apartment," the information broker said. "Excuse me." Kitano and Etsuko watched as he walked out the office. The doctor turned to her partner.

"Who should I send with him?" she asked once Izaya was out of earshot.

"Roc seems like a good option," Kitano said. He picked up his phone and made the call.

"Roc, could you make a little errand run with Orihara-san?" he asked. "Thank you." Kitano hung up his phone.


	7. Aoba

Halo Six: Aoba:

-March 7th-

"If you're so worried about them, call your little gang to protect you," Kaori said. "Oh wait, you can't! I killed them!" She hung up her phone, smirking.

"You know, you don't have time to be toying with that boy," a voice spoke up. She looked up to see Etsuko standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Kaori said up on her bed, smiling.

"But I'm bored," she whined. "I want to kill something! When do I get to kill people again?" Etsuko walked in and patted her on the head.

"There, there, my dear," she said. "You will get plenty of time to kill again." The girl looked up at her with big eyes.

"Do you promise?" she asked.

"Yes," the doctor said. "Come look at something with me. You're going to like this." Kaori tilted her head.

"Oh?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Let me show you," Etsuko said. She took her "daughter" by her hand and walked down to her room.

"I found this a while back when we were looking for the Gates to Apocalypse around the city," the doctor said when they reached her room. "I was in the library looking for that book where I hid a couple of formulas a few cycles ago. Along with the formulas, I found a little reminder stuffed between the pages." "Mother" and "daughter" approached her desk. Kaori's red eyes widened as her jaw dropped. Etsuko broke into a little smile.

"I believe this is one of your favorite toys," she said. Kaori walked up to the desk. A glowing gold tree-shaped stand the size of a desk lamp with countless number of bright red threads hanging from the "branches" sat in the middle. The loli goth girl walked over and ran her fingers along the glass. She couldn't take her eyes off of the thread growing by an inch inside. She turned to Etsuko, panting.

"Where did you find this?" Kaori asked.

"A safety deposit box in the bank," the doctor said. "Do you remember the Moirai?"

"Uh-huh. One spins the thread of human life, another measures it, and the third cuts that thread to kill those humans."

"That's right. Now look in my top drawer on the right."

Kaori's heart pounded as she reached for the round, bass knob of the drawer. When she looked inside, she felt like flying to the moon.

"My scissors!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a part of golden scissors.

"Yes," Etsuko said. "You wanted to kill again, so you get to play Atrops again." Kaori tilted her head.

"That's the one who kills the humans, right?" she asked.

"That's correct," her "mother" said. Kaori stared at the threads growing inside the glass container. Her eyes happened to catch two familiar threads growing. It didn't take long for a twisted new plot to form in her head.

"Mama?" she asked.

"Hm?" Etsuko asked. Kaori turned with a wide grin on her face.

"What happens if I cut a thread from the top?" she asked. "Like I went to the beginning of it and snip?" The doctor shrugged.

"I cannot tell you that," she said. Her "daughter" pouted.

"Aw, why not?" she asked.

"Because there is no record of it being tried before," the doctor said. Those words alone were enough to grant Kaori "permission" to go ahead with her latest plan. She had her infamous smile as she tilted her head.

"Mama, I want to try something," she said. "Please let me do it with Aoba? I promise I will leave him alone until my siblings arrive. Please? Please? At least hear me out. Please? Please? Please?" Etsuko sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"What is it you want to do?" she asked. Kaori broke down in a very-detailed explanation of her idea. Etsuko took a minute to think about it when she was finished.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the outcome of this," she said at last. Kaori squealed as she twirled around.

"You're the best Mama!" she shouted. Etsuko patted her on the head.  _The things we do to spoil our children_ , she thought.

* * *

-Midnight-

Aoba awoke to pitch black around him.

_Wait? Where am I? What's going on here?_

A giant spotlight flashed in his eyes. The blue-haired boy tried to shield himself from the intense brightness.

"Gah!" he complained. A person dressed up in black and white bear suit appeared in front of Aoba. He about jumped back when he saw the sewed-on smile on the face.

"What the hell?!" he asked.

"You're on in five minutes," the bear said.

"What?" Aoba asked. The bear grabbed hold of his black t-shirt and hooked a little microphone to the collar. He tried to swat its hand away.

"Get off!" the boy snapped. "Don't touch me!" When the bear stepped aside, Aoba found himself in a game show set-up as he stood behind a black and pink podium. In fact, everything was black, pink, and purple. Light purple curtains covered the back of the wall. Five monitors were mounted on the back wall above a giant black and pink sign that was turned off. Another black and white bear danced around on the middle screen like as if it had too much caffeine. It appeared hungry for blood as it waved two giant knives in the air. A giant wheel stood inches away between him and another empty podium. A black katana held it in place in the middle. Bright lights stayed fixed on Aoba and the rest of the setting. Many different-colored teddy bears with fangs sat in the audience, waiting while they held glasses of bloody wine in their hands.

"What the fuck is this?!" Aoba asked. Four plushy foxes stood behind old-style cameras all pointed to the set in front of them. He began to slowly back away as if to flee the set. But, a bright pink bunny pushed him back into place. It locked the podium behind the boy.

"No, no," it said, wagging its finger. "We're about to go live."

"What the-?!" Aoba shouted.

"In five… four… three… two… one!" the black and white bear shouted.

"Live from the Nightmare Dimension!" an announcer shouted overhead. "Welcome to another exciting night of…!"

"Midnight Wheel of Misfortune!" the audience shouted. Aoba whipped around as the giant sign next to him lit up. The pink bulbs flashed downwards in a hyper rhythm. The former leader of the Blue Squares blinked with a confused look on his face.

"What the fuck is this?!" he asked.

"And here's your host, the lovely and talented, Kaori!" the announcer shouted. The floor behind the empty podium opened and up rose Kaori herself. Tonight, her dress was lowcut, showing off her cleavage, and a black tiara on her head that match said dress. Her black skull choker was the only thing that kept the top of her dress in place. She didn't have her signature pigtails tonight. Kaori had a long silver sword instead of her umbrella.

"Good evening, everybody!" she said with a wink. "And welcome to another night of…"

"Midnight Wheel of Misfortune!" the audience shouted again.

"I'm Kaori and I'll be your host tonight!" Kaori said. She smiled and winked at the camera. Her audience cheered like wild animals. It didn't long for Aoba's bewilderment to change into rage.

"You!" he snapped. "What the fuck is all of this?!" Kaori flipped back her long black hair.

"You're in my realm of my little game show," she said. The hostess turned back to the camera.

"We've got an exciting show for you tonight!" she said. "Let's meet our new contestant! He's a second-year student at Raira Academy and used to be the founder of the notorious gang in Ikebukuro, the Blue Squares, before their tragic deaths. Give it up for Kuronuma Aoba!" The audience went crazy with their cheering. Aoba rolled his eyes and groaned.

"This is bullshit," he muttered. He tried to turn around and walk away, but the gate behind him was locked.

"What the hell?!" he asked. Kaori giggled.

"Sorry, it doesn't work that way," she said. "You will be a good boy and play along with my games, because if you don't…"

_I will hunt you down and kill you in the real world, you little shit._

A quick shot raced through the contestant's body. Kaori resisted the urge to squeal when she heard him screaming. He opened his mouth again only to be zapped a second time.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Kaori asked. "Can't take little shocks? Oh, I almost forgot. If you don't play my game or if you mess up at any point, you will be shocked by my Usagi-san over there." Aoba turned to see the pink bunny holding up a small remote control. He looked back at Kaori with her smug smile.

"It would be in your best interest to play along," she said. "We've only gotten started too." Aoba quickly closed his mouth, but glared at the host. Kaori smiled like a little angel.

"Perfect!" she said. "Now, let's go onto our first round!" The dancing bear on the monitor swung its knives around ahead its head before dropping them on the ground. It disappeared to leave Katakana characters dripping red.

"Life in Jeopardy!" Kaori shouted.

"Life in Jeopardy!" the audience repeated. Kaori held up a stack of black and purple cards.

"Contestants have to press the button in front of them to answer questions," she said. "They will have a set amount of time to complete this round. Contests need at least twenty-five points to win. Let us begin!" Aoba had a bored look on his face.

_Better get this over with_ , he thought.  _How bad can she be with this?_  A glint flashed in Kaori's eye.

"Question number one," she said. "Why did your brother beat you up and rape you?" Aoba about stumbled backwards.  _Where did that question come from?_  He should've expect this being Kaori, his tormentor. Aoba gritted his teeth. He was just about to reach for the buzzer when a ringing sound filled the air.

"Time's up!" Kaori shouted. "The answer is, jealousy!" The boy looked around off-guard. When did his time run out?

"Time for the penalty!" the host shouted. "Usagi-san!" The pink bunny pressed a red button on the remote. A sharp shock struck him in the chest. It felt like getting shot with a stun gun. Kaori covered her mouth as Aoba screamed. The contestant grabbed the podium, panting.

"What the hell was that?!" he shouted. Kaori flipped back her hair.

"The penalty," she said. "Failure to answer a question results in getting shocked in different places all over your body. Also, you have fifteen seconds to answer these questions." Aoba didn't know whether to scream or cry.

"Next question," she said. "Why did you set Izumi Ran's room on fire?" The boy gritted his teeth.  _If that's how she wants to play it…_

Aoba reached forward and hit the buzzer. He winced as the sensation of a spike going through his hand. Kaori raised her eyebrow.

"Aoba?" she asked.

"He beat me up so badly that I couldn't walk straight for days," Aoba answered. It annoyed him to come out and say it. A bell rang in the air.

"That's correct!" Kaori shouted. "Two points!" The monitor above his head flashed the number two.

"Next question," the host said. For the most part, Aoba had hits and misses with the questions. Needless to say, Kaori got under his skin asking questions about Ran and the home life they shared before their parents divorced. She even asked him about his brother and the Blue Squares.

But then, Kaori's questions took a turn into the brutal.

"Next question," the host said. "Who is responsible for the deaths of the Blue Squares?" Aoba was quick on the buzzer.

"Aoba?" Kaori asked.

"You!" he shouted. A buzzing sound ripped through the air.

"Ooo, wrong!" the host said.

"What?!" Aoba shouted. The bell rang above his head.

"Time's up!" Kaori said. "The answer is… you, Aoba!" The boy with blue hair narrowed his eyes at her.

"But you killed them!" he shouted.

"Yeah, but because you were in the way, they had to die," the host said. "Usagi-san!" The pink bunny pressed the button again after waiting for the past seven questions. This time, Aoba got a shock to his throat. The gagging noise wasn't as thrilling as his screaming, but with Kaori as the host, what did it matter? Aoba patted and glared at her. It took all of his self-control not to jump over his podium and choke the living daylights out of her. He wondered why he hadn't attempted to do that yet. That question was answered when he could feel that bunny's black eyes on his back. Whoever was in that bunny suit was a little too happy with that remote.

"Don't worry, folks," Kaori said. "He's fine. We can still keep playing." She flipped the next card in her hand.

"Oh," she said. "We're down to the last question. And this will add ten points to the final score!" Aoba looked up. His eyes locked on his tormentor.

"Last question!" Kaori shouted. "Who did you ask to lead the Blue Squares in a plot for you to take over the Dollars? Here's a hint: He stabbed you in the hand with a ballpoint pen when he decided to form a contract with you. You've got twenty seconds to answer." Aoba gave her a blank stare. Something about the words "ballpoint pen" triggered something in his mind. That event felt strangely familiar to him. The name was on the tip of his tongue.

Aoba reached for the buzzer.

"Aoba?" Kaori asked. The contestant was just about to open his mouth when a sharp pain shot through his head. Aoba gasped as he grabbed his head. Kaori's smile turned cold as she watched him struggle. She counted down for the attack to pass. Aoba finally looked at his tormentor with another blank stare.

"I don't know…" he said in a tiny voice. The final buzz ripped through the air.

"Wrong!" Kaori said. "The answer is… Chirin! And that's the end of Life in Jeopardy! Let's see how many points our contestant has!" The camera turned to the monitor above Aoba's head. The number twelve flashed on the screen.

"Aww!" the audience said.

"Ooo, too bad," Kaori said. "He didn't make it to twenty-five points. Looks like he'll have to play our batsu game!"

"Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game!" the audience chanted. Aoba smiled and shook his head.

"And what are you going to pull now?" he asked.

"Delighted you asked!" she said. "It's time for…"

"Pock Horror Pictures Show!" the audience yelled. Kaori giggled as she held up a little black clicker and pressed the switch. Aoba vanished into thin air before he could say another word.

* * *

Aoba looked around and saw pitch black again.

"What is it now?" he asked. The blue-haired boy turned around when he heard what sounded the click of a switch. A projector light hit the blackened background behind him.

"Huh?" Aoba asked. On the screen, Gin sitting on the of his bedroom in a daze. He pulled out a knife and slit his right arm from wrist to fold of his elbow. The sounds of the knife plunging into his skin made Aoba jump. He repeated the process with his left arm collapsed on the floor. The former leader of the Blue Squares' face twisted into shock and horror.

_Don't tell me…_

Yoshikiri's video came up next. He looked just as dazed as Gin did as he held up that bottle of bleach. Aoba already knew what was coming next, it still made him shudder. He shook his head when Yoshikiri showed off the label. The boy in the video opened the bottle and put it to his lips. Each gulp was hard to sit through. Foam started to come up from the Yoshikiri 's throat as he kept drinking it. The gagging noises were turned up at full volume. Aoba covered his ears as he sank to his knees.

"You will not break me like this!" he shouted.

At last, Yoshikiri dropped the empty bottle of bleach and collapsed on the floor with foam around his mouth. The next video's was Yatsufusa's death.

He was writing something on the bathroom wall with what looked like lipstick. Aoba could read what his former fledging was writing.

I do not deserve to live.

Worthless.

Pathetic.

Scum of the earth.

Weak.

Stupid.

Useless.

I am shit.

When he was done, Yatsufusa turned and climbed into a bathtub filled to the top with water. Just like Gin and Yoshikri, the boy also had a dazed look in his eyes. He held a hair dryer plugged into the wall in his right hand. He threw the dryer into the water. The screaming made Aoba's stomach turn. He wasn't sure if he was shaking or if it was all in his head.

"You will not get me, you bitch!" the blue-haired boy shouted.

He vanished into thin air as the film drew to a close.

* * *

Kaori stood at her podium with a huge smile on her face.

"Welcome back!" she said. Aoba looked up to see that he was back in the game show setting. He gritted his teeth as he held back the urge to scream. Kaori's smug smile might as well be a kick to the groin. What was her goal for this? Why was he here? The more he thought about, the more it pissed Aoba off. Kaori clapped her hands together.

"Right!" she said. "Looks like it's time for our next game. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for…!"

The dancing bear on the monitor swung its knives around ahead its head before dropping them on the ground. It disappeared to leave Katakana characters dripping red.

"Breaking Wheel!" Kaori shouted with her arms in the air.

"Breaking Wheel!" the audience repeated.

"That's right!" Kaori said. She walked over to the giant black and purple wheel.

"With this game," the hose said. "Contestants have to spin the Wheel of Despair and complete seven challenges. Failure to do this will result in another batsu game!" Aoba looked like he wanted to slap Kaori as the audience cheered like wild animals. The host turned her focus onto him.

"Go ahead," she said. "Spin the wheel! Spin! Spin! Spin!" Aoba could feel the pink bunny's glass eyes on his back. The contestant glared as he walked up to the wheel. He reached up and gave the heavy wheel a spin. The room sat with bated breath as the purple and black disappeared in a blur. Aoba gritted his teeth as the clacking floated through the room. He stared with narrowed eyes. Why hadn't he thought about a way to escape from this cartoonish hell? Oh yeah, that psycho rabbit and the crazy host running this circus. For now, he would have to endure this sick game for her amusement.

Finally, the wheel stopped. Kaori looked up at the skull bunny's pointer.

"Fish Trap!" she shouted. A life-sized girl that looked like a rag doll wheeled a full tank into the center. Aoba cringed at the murky water in the tank. Kaori walked over to said tank.

"The rules are really simple," she said. "The contestant must reach into this tank and grab the fish in thirty seconds. There are many other things in the water too. Be careful!" Aoba looked like he wanted to shout, "Are you fucking serious?" Kaori stuck up her arm in the air.

"Begin!" she shouted.

"Begin?" Aoba asked. "I can't see anything in that water!" The host slapped him on the back hard enough to make him stumble over.

"Do the best you can!" she said. Kaori pushed him over to the tank. Aoba sneered and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever," he muttered. Lucky that for him that he was wearing a short-sleeve shirt tonight. Kaori watched as he stuck his hand in the water. Right away, Aoba cringed.

"Yuck," he mumbled. The boy made faces as he reached around in the greenish-brown water. Ten seconds in, something bit him on his right index finger.

"Ouch!" he shouted. "What the hell?!"

"Keep looking," Kaori said. Her sugary-sweet tone made him want to vomit. Despite that, Aoba kept fishing around in that murky tank for that damned fish. It couldn't be healthy for him with his fingers getting bitten in that filthy water. He probably need a shot after this.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" the audience shouted. The buzzer rang through the air.

"Time's up!" Kaori shouted. "Let's see if he's caught that fish or not!" She turned to her victim.

"Well?" she asked. Aoba groaned as he pulled his empty hand covered in slime and bite marks. He made a disgusted face when he saw the end result of his fruitless challenge. The buzzer sounded overhead again.

"Ooo!" Kaori said. "No points for our contestant. Usagi-san!" Aoba braces himself for another zap on a random part of his body. Instead, the pink bunny decided to get a little creative.

"Ow!" Aoba shouted. Something like sharp fangs bit him in his lower back. He tried to look down and push the sensation off.

"What did that thing just do?!" he yelled.

"Penalty," Kaori said. "Ready for the next challenge?"

"No," Aoba said.

"Great!" the host cheered. "Spin the wheel!" The boy glared at her.

"I hate you, you know that?" he asked. Kaori shrugged.

"Can't be helped," she said. "Just spin the pretty wheel." Aoba sneered and gave the wheel another spin. The audience waited for the next challenge. Meanwhile, the contestant scanned the room an exit. He would be damned if he had to play this stupid game any longer.

Finally, the wheel came to its second stop. Kaori looked up, excited.

"School lunch!" she yelled.

"Yay!" the audience shouted.

"Dollie!" Kaori shouted. The rag doll girl came out with another cart with a covered tray as purple bears took the fish tank away.

"In this challenge, you have thirty seconds to finish this meal without vomiting," the host said. Kaori lifted the cover with her clown-like grin. Aoba's face was covered in disgusted at maggot and worm-filled rice porridge. Was Kaori just fucking with him now? He walked over and picked up a spoon.

"Remember," Kaori said. "Forfeiting will lead to another round of…"

"Pocky Horror Picture Show!" the audience shouted. Aoba gritted his teeth. Might as well get this over with. The first bite was enough to make his stomach turn. Forget the bugs and the creepy-crawlies! How old was this rice porridge? He glanced up at Kaori who was waiting for him to vomit. The boy narrowed his eyes.  _I will not give her the satisfaction._  Aoba shoved a big spoonful in his mouth.

He finished the bowl in under twenty seconds. The bell rang as he tried to stomach the foul meal. Aoba forced himself to smile as he stuck up his middle finger.

"Congrats to Aoba!" Kaori said as she waved off the gesture. "Time for the next challenge! Spin the wheel!" The former leader of the Blue Squares tried not to throw up as he gave the wheel another spin. What was she going to plan now?  _Come on, bitch! Do your worst!_

The wheel came to a stop and Kaori looked up.

"Play Ball!" she shouted. The crowd went wild. The purple bears took away the cart. Kaori walked over to a giant glass batting cage. Another pink bunny grabbed Aoba by the arms and followed the host.

"Hey! Get your hands off of-!" the contestant shouted. He closed his mouth to keep himself from throwing up.

"Careful there," Kaori said. "You just had a big meal." Aoba cursed himself under his breath as the rabbit put him down. The host smiled as she unlocked the glass door.

"This game is straight-forward," she said. "The contestant has to dodge all of my fast balls in sixty seconds!" The bunny pushed Aoba into the cage. The contestant tried to stand without feeling his sick traveling upwards. Dodging would be one thing. Dodging and trying not to puke would take walking a tight-rope.

"Dollie!" Kaori shouted. The rag doll girl came out with a ball cannon. Aoba smirked. Kaori threw her hand up in the air.

"Play ball!" she shouted. The host picked up a remote and pressed the button. One baseball came flying out like a rocket. Aoba jumped out of the way just in time. The second ball shot out and he dodged that one too. But the third ball caught him right in the chest. Aoba fell back against the glass wall with a crash. Kaori covered her laughed as she snickered. She turned up the knob on the remote and the balls fired out in rapid succession. Aoba had a time ducking and dodging each fast ball. All the while trying not to throw up.

Well… that didn't last long, needless to say.

By the end of the challenge, Kaori turned off the ball cannon. She looked down at her target. Aoba lay on the ground, semi-conscious. His pajamas were covered in vomit and blood. He had bruises all over his body.

"You still alive?" Kaori asked. She gently kicked him in the head. Aoba let out a low groan.

"He seems fine, folks," the host said. "Let's just give him about ten minutes to recover, shall we?"

*Please Stand By*

"And we're back!" Kaori said. Aoba stood by the Wheel of Despair, glaring with a black eye.

"It's a good thing our contestant didn't die on us," the host said. "That would be boring if we lost him. Anyway…" She turned her attention back to Aoba.

"Now, spin the wheel again!" Kaori shouted. The battered boy could've said no and stormed off. Let him take his chance on her killing him in the real world. Aoba gave the wheel another spin. Kaori resisted the urge to break into a happy dance. Especially since she already had the final round of this game planned out.

The wheel slowed to a stop. The host looked up at the results.

"Fire Walk!" she shouted. Aoba froze.  _She can't mean…_  Kaori turned to a mini bridge made of ropes on top of fire. On the other side hung a key from a metal arch.

"The contestant has to run across this rope bridge over this fire the key!" the host said. "What does that key lead to? He'll just have to cross that bridge and see?" Aoba backed away, shaking his head.

"Fuck this!" he shouted. "I won't do it!" Kaori raised her eyebrow.

"Is that a forfeit?" she asked.

"Yes!" Aoba snapped. Kaori broke into a goofy grin.

"Oh?" she asked. "Our contestant just called forfeit! You know what that means?"

"Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game! Batsu game!" the audience chanted. Aoba fought to keep from going insane by now.

"Go ahead," he said. "Do your worst. You can't really hurt me anymore." Kaori showed a little crack in her smile, but regained her composure.

"Fine," she said. "Ladies and gentlemen, there's going to be a slight change in the program right after our batsu game!" Kaori held up her little black clicker and pressed the switch. Aoba vanished into thin air, predicting what was coming next.

* * *

He found himself back in that darkened room. Aoba could already predict what was coming in the Pocky Horror Picture Show. In fact, he counted down to the gory show around him as the projector clicked on.

The Nitari twins came up first on the screen. Both boys looked dazed like the other three members of the Blue Squares. The older twin looked into the camera before walking over to a noose hanging behind him. He stepped up a small stool, put the noose around his neck, and kicked away the stool. The video fast forwarded until the boy was hanging dead.

Aoba didn't even flinch this time. "Is that the best you can come up with?!"

The younger brother stood outside of his apartment with a can of gasoline in his hand in the next video. He opened the cap and poured it all over himself. The boy took a match and set himself on fire. The last clip showed Neko staring at the camera with a dazed look on his face on top of what used to be their hideout. He gave the lenses a little wave goodbye. The boy turned, walked to the edge, and jumped off. Aoba didn't even flinch as the last of the Blue Squares hit the ground. Instead, he smirked and shook his head.

"Come on!" the former leader shouted. "This doesn't faze me at all! You think you can scare with all of your little games and creepy videos! I've been through much worse! This is nothing covered to what aneki did to me!" Aoba vanished into thin air again.

* * *

He reappeared back in the game show. This time, Kaori stood on a tall purple platform with her golden scissors in her hand. Aoba chuckled when he saw her.

"And what are you going to pull now?" he asked. Kaori's smug smile didn't faze him.

"Think I can't get under your skin?" she asked. "I've got something for you!" The host turned to the camera.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Kaori said. "We've come to our final round of the night…

The dancing bear on the monitor swung its knives around ahead its head before dropping them on the ground. It disappeared to leave Katakana characters dripping red.

"Scale of Judecca!" the host announced.

"Scale of Judecca!" the audience repeated.

"And for tonight we've got a very special guest!" Kaori shouted. "Usagi-san!" The pink bunny pressed another button on his remote. The stage next to the host opened, giving off a rumbling noise. All of Aoba's smug bravado crumbled like a decaying building. Mairu and Kururi were standing under the gallows, bound and gagged. They struggled to free themselves with no avail. On a small table between the three girls sat Kaori's stand with two skinny red threads hanging from the top.

"No!" Aoba cried. "Let them go right now!" Kaori shook her head.

"Sorry, it's part of the game," she said. "You see, these threads right here symbolize your precious twins' lives. If I cut them, Izaya's sisters will die." Kaori pouted.

"But sadly, my poor little scissors can only cut one thread at a time," she said. "So, you're going to have to pick which twin lives and which one dies. Failure to choose will result in both girls' deaths. You have until this yen coin reaches the bottom of this glass!" Kaori dropped a yen coin into a small tank of water. Aoba's stomach dropped as his eyes widened. Mairu and Kururi's eyes pleaded for him to rescue them as he looked back and forth between them. He had expected Kaori to sink this low. His gang was one thing, but these girls were dearer to him than his own life.

That coin was sinking faster than he could keep up. Aoba looked back and forth faster. The panicked rush wouldn't allow him to think straight. He would have to do something before he lost them both.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four!" the audience shouted. "Three! Two!" Aoba shut his eyes.

"Kururi-chan!" he shouted. The coin reached the aqua pebbles at the bottom of the tank. Kaori's eyes lit up.

"You heard the boy!" she shouted. "Dollie!" The rag doll girl came up behind Kururi and cut her free. Aoba raced over to her as she fell to the cold floor. Kaori took her scissors and cut Mairu's thread at the very top. The younger twin froze with a gasp because her gag before her she collapsed.

"Mairu!" Aoba screamed. Kaori laughed as he ran over to the pile of clothes hitting the floor. The boy reached into a saw a little fetus shape creature before it turned into ash and crumbled. Shock took over Aoba's mind and his body wouldn't move no matter how much his brain commanded it to.

"That's our game, folks!" Kaori shouted. "Hope you had a fun time! Good night!" She blew big kiss to the audience.

* * *

Aoba awoke in his bed, panting. Judging by how messy his clothes look and how sore his body felt, he knew it wasn't a dream. Despite that, he knew there were bigger things to worry about.

_I have to see if the twins are alright!_  Aoba jumped out of bed, got dressed, and ran out of his room.

He pounded on the door as hard as he could.

"Mairu! Kururi!" he shouted. "Wake up! Please tell me you're still okay! The boy backed up when the door open. Kururi stood in front of him in pajamas with a confused look on her face. Aoba put his hand to his chest.

"Oh, good, you're alright," he said.

"Of course I am," Kururi said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh," Aoba was quick to say. "Uh… No reason, I just missed you, that's all." The girl tilted her head.

"Babe, why are you all sweaty?" Kururi asked. "And what happened to your face? And where's your bracelet?" Her questions were enough to jolt him back into reality.

"Bracelet?" Aoba asked. "Babe? What are you talking?"

"You know, we got matching blue and white crystal-beaded bracelets over the New Year," she said. "Are you feeling okay, Babe?" Kururi reached over to feel his forehead. Aoba pushed away her hand.

"I'm fine, never mind," he said. "Where's Mairu?" Kururi gave him a confused look.

"Heh?" she asked. The color drained from Aoba's face as he pushed past the older girl.

"What are you talking about? Who's Mairu?" Kururi asked as she followed him down the hall. Aoba came to the twins' bedroom and turned on the light. To his horror, there was only evidence of one girl ever inhabiting the room. It looked like a typical teenager's room without the pictures of Heiwajima Kasuka all over the wall or a shrine in his honor. Aoba took a step back, shaking his head.

"No… No!" he said. "This isn't right!" The former leader of the Blue Squares noticed a picture by Kururi's bed. When he picked it up and looked at it, his fears were confirmed. There were only the parents, a young Izaya, and a child Kururi smiling in front of their apartment in the picture. No Mairu in sight. Aoba sank to his knees with big eyes of sinking despair. He snapped out of it when his cell phone rang.

"H-H-H-Hello?" he asked.

"Hello!" Kaori cheered over the other end of the line. Aoba's shock turned into rage.

"What the fuck did you do to Mairu?!" he screamed. She giggled.

"Oh, just ended her life before it began," Kaori said.

"Why?!"

"Because I could! I wanted to see what would happen if I cut a human's life thread from the beginning and she go bye-bye!"

Aoba gritted his teeth. "What's going to happen to Kururi-chan now?!"

"You'll have to see. Bye-bye!" Kaori hung up before her victim could say another word. Aoba's cell phone hit the floor.


	8. Yoemon

Halo Seven: Yoemon:

-Four Years Ago-

Professor Yoemon adjusted his video camera before hitting record. He turned and walked back to the black background.

"Um… good morning, everyone," Yoemon-sensei said. "My name is Yoemon-sensei. I'm sorry if I appear nervous. This is my first time doing a video lecture. I'm more used to doing lectures in front of crowds of people. Anyway, today I am going to give a brief introduction of this lecture series. What is this series about? Well, I am a philosophy professor at Tokyo University. I will cover what philosophy is, philosophy throughout the history of man, philosophy and science, religion and philosophy, and philosophy in the modern age."

The professor pushed up his glasses.

"Now, what is philosophy?" he asked. "It's been defined as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. But to me, that doesn't even scratch the surface. There is so much more about philosophy than a fundamental study…"

-Present Day-

A young woman with her long blonde hair in a braid sat on her bed, watching Yoemon-sensei's lecture on her laptop. She munched on a stick of chocolate pocky.

"You watching lecture videos again?" someone asked. The woman looked up to see another woman with long dark brown hair standing in the bathroom doorway. The blonde hit pause on her laptop and took out her earbuds.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Are you watching lecture videos again?" the other woman asked. She walked over and looked at paused laptop screen.

"Is that that professor who died in Russia five days ago?" she asked.

"Yes," the blonde woman said. The brunette tilted her head.

"Didn't Todai let him go because he went crazy?" she asked.

"His earlier videos are pretty good," the blonde countered with. "Besides, Satsu-chan, I could question your obsession with that DeathVine web site." Satsu put her hands on her hips.

"It's for research, I'll have you know," she said. "I'm studying human behavior, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde said. "You just want to see morbid things." Satsu gave her a little pout as walked over to the bed and cuddled up to the other woman.

"Aw, Aoi-chan," she said. "You know I love creepy things."

"More than me?" Aoi asked. Satsu kissed her on the cheek.

"Never," she said. The blonde smiled as she put her earbuds in.

"No," Satsu said. Aoi turned her head.

"No?" she asked. Satsu pulled her into her arms.

"You've got me curious about this professor now," she said. "I want to find out why he went insane and what drove him to take his own live." Aoi blinked at first.

"Okay…" she said. The blonde unplugged her earbuds from her laptop and hit play.

* * *

-Aoba-

Aoba flopped down on his bed. He couldn't take how much everything had changed. Last month alone drained him.

Apparently, he and Kururi were now dating. Aoba couldn't wrap his mind around when or how that happened. She always tried to hold his hand in public. The former leader of the Blue Squares drew back his hand.

"What's the matter, Babe?" Kururi asked as they walked to school on the first morning without Mairu.

"Why do we have to hold hands in public?" Aoba whispered.

"Aw, you're not ashamed of me, are you?" she asked as she tried to take his hand again. The boy drew it back.

"No," he said.

"Then the what's the problem, Babe?"

"It's weird. And please stop calling me 'babe'. It doesn't sound right when you say it."

Kururi giggled as she groped him on the ass. "Only if you hold my hand. I can either call you 'babe' or we can hold hands." Aoba sighed with a red face.

"Fine," he grumbled. Kururi grabbed hold of his hand and smiled. It's not just the public display of affection that she was so happy to engage in either. Aoba couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing gym clothes to school anymore. Instead, Kururi could be equivalent to a fashionista. Aoba managed to get a good look into her through her room when she was on the phone outside. He had to blink and rub his eyes at what he was seeing.

Skirts long enough to cover her bottom. Tight tank tops on hangers. Most of her dresses were low-cut to show off her big breasts. When did Kururi start wearing corsets? Fish nets too? He had a hard time picturing his "girlfriend" in leather. She even had high heels and high-heeled boots in her closet. Why would Izaya let her dress like this? Kururi's lingerie took the cake. Aoba couldn't understand why girls would want to wear thongs. How could they stand have something to up their crack? He hadn't even seen so much make-up before in his life.

It didn't stop there.

Where did this girl posse of hers come from? Kururi seemed to bond with all of the mean girls in their school. Some of them even feared her. These were the girls who wrote nasty things all over Kururi and Mairu's desks on the first day of school. Now they were all friends? What did she have over them? Aoba sighed.

"Nothing makes sense anymore!" he complained. Nobody seemed to remember Mairu anymore. He didn't dare ask Izaya if he remembered or not. His pride was still intact from all of the abuse that took from Kaori. Kururi and her posse treated it like a joke.

"Your boyfriend acts weird, Orihara-san," one of the girls said.

"I know," Kururi said. "Aoba-kun came by my place last night with his face all bruised up. He keeps going on about how Izaya-nii and I have a sister named Mairu."

"What?" another girl asked.

"Yeah," their leader said. "He says that we were twins and we used to make out all of the time."

"Ewww!" another girl said. "That's nasty!" Kururi thought about it for a minute.

"Actually, that might sound hot," she said. "If this Mairu-girl was as hot as me with nice tits, I might consider it." The other girls broke into laughter. Aoba sat at the edge of the table, isolated. Kururi seemed to ignore him when she was that annoying posse. Part of him hoped that this was a bad dream he would wake up from. Secretly, Aoba would pinch himself. By the end of week one, he knew this wasn't a nightmare.

Now what? Nobody knew who Mairu was anyone and Kururi had changed from a quiet, mischievous girl to a queen bee he didn't recognize. Why didn't Kaori have to do this to him?

Aoba lifted his head when his cell phone rang.  _Again?_

"Hello?" he asked.

"Babe!" Kururi said on the other line. Aoba resisted to urge to groan. He could predict what was coming next.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Babe, I'm horny," she said. Aoba buried his face back into his pillow. That was another thing about this new Kururi. When did she become so obsessed with sex? The amount of sex toys in her closet made him feel uneasy. Sure, Mairu and Kururi had many sex toys together in the first timeline. But it just didn't fit with Kururi. It didn't help that she seemed to want sex every night. Aoba rubbed his forehead.

"I'm too tired," he complained.

"But I'm already outside your door," she said. Aoba sat up and looked out the window. He could see down Kururi's top as she looked up at him with the phone in his hand.

"I'm coming up right now," she said. "You better get ready, big boy! I'm about to give you another amazing night!" Aoba forced himself to smile.

"Alright," he said. "I'm coming." Aoba sighed and walked out of his room.

* * *

-Three Years Ago-

"Good evening, everyone," Yoemon-sensei said on video. "Welcome back to another philosophy lecture. My name in Yoemon-sensei and I will be your professor." At the time, he still had that shine in his eyes. The professor clapped his hands together.

"Last week, I met a rather interesting man," he said. "His name is Kitano Katsuhiro. He's a rather interesting man. He is what I would call agnostic in the philosophy world. But he seems to believe in a powerful being known as the Woman in Red. He claims that he saw her during a near death experience when he was a child."

As he spoke, his pace would quicken and return to normal at some points.

"I met him at a conference up in Sapporo," he said. "Kitano-sensei didn't interact with most of the people there. He just sat in the back of the room, writing in his notebook. This man did ask questions during different lectures, but he didn't stay too long to the meet-ups and drinking parties afterwards. The professors and therapists stayed away, whispering about him, but I found myself curious."

Whenever he brought up Kitano, Yoemon wanted to fly up to the sky. Still, he wasn't that loyal to him at the time. He still wanted to figure out Kitano for himself.

"So in the middle of the week," the professor said. "I walked over to him in the cafeteria. He looked up when I got close. We stared at each other for about ten minutes. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"'Yes?' he asked. I didn't know what I wanted to say. I walked up to man without a plan. But still, I was there and I had something to say. I think I said something about another lecture that was coming up in ten minutes. I probably sounded dumb, but I wasn't thinking. Kitano didn't even blink.

"'Is that all?' he asked. I slowly nodded.

"'Heh,' was all he said. We didn't talk to each other during the rest of the conference. But he left quite an impression on me with his lecture. Kitano-sensei talked about the mind during the End Times. Quite a few of the audience found it off-putting. But, I found myself drawn in. I had to find out more."

The professor held up a book in front of the camera.

"He recommended this book," Yoemon said. " _Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization's End_  by Lawrence E. Joseph. This is a good start to understanding how he thinks. With this, I might get close and figure Kitano-sensei out…"

* * *

-Present Day-

-Mikado and Masaomi-

"This is turning into a bad habit," Masaomi said at Ikebukuro station. Mikado stood next to him with his eyepatch, looking around. He hadn't any episodes until now today. Masaomi wasn't fast enough to stop him like he was yesterday.

"At least take the eyepatch off," he said.

"No," Mikado said.

"Take the eyepatch off."

"No."

Masaomi gritted his teeth. "Don't fight with me, man. Take the eyepatch off or I will rip it off of you."

"I would love to see you try it." Mikado in his mind asked why he would say something like that. Masaomi clinched his fists at his sides.

"I am not going to do this with you here," he said. "I don't care if you are having an episode or not, take the eyepatch now!" Mikado was about to speak when he froze with a chill down his spine.  _Another one? But where?_  The tadpole boy looked around at the crowd of people with their inner demons.

"Mikado?" Masaomi asked. His friend looked around until he spotted a girl in a school uniform standing at the edge of the platform. She too froze as if she could sense it too. She quickly looked around before looks at the tracks. It didn't take Mikado long to notice that she didn't have a demon on her shoulder just like everyone else around them. The tadpole about jumped as he connected the dots in his head.

"Ah! She's like me!" he said.

"What?" Masaomi asked. Mikado pushed him aside and run through the crowd of people.

"Mikado!" his friend yelled as he ran after him. The tadpole pushed his through the crowd to the girl on the platform. She turned her head when he came within a few feet of her. Tears streamed down her face.

"Don't do it," Mikado said. "You're like me. You don't have to end it like this. I know people who can help you." The girl shook her head.

"I am beyond help," she said.

"That's not true."

"No, listen!" More tears formed in her eyes. "I'm too much a danger to everyone around me. I've already killed my boyfriend, my mom, and my best friends! I've even killed many strangers these past two days alone! I can't do this anymore!"

"And you think suicide will stop it? Come with us. I take you to someone who can help you. We can help you."

By now, people were starting to crowd around them. Some of them had their cell phones out, recording. Mikado cringed at their demons shouting at the poor tadpole girl to jump already.

_Do it!_

_Do it already!_

_Jump already!_

_Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!_

Mikado gritted his teeth.  _Shut up!_  The demons broke into laughter and chanted louder. The founder of the Dollars held out his hand.

"Come on," he said. "Let me help you." The girl shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said as the train was pulling into the station. "But I don't want to hurt any more people." The girl turned and jumped just as the train pulled up. Her blood splashed all over Mikado and the people nearby. The tadpole boy could only hear silence as everyone rushed around him in a panic. The last thing he could remember was someone grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him away.

* * *

-Rampo Biotech-

Kitano was observing the Heartseed plant as the red glow started to fade when a second bud fell in its pot.

"Hm?" he asked. "Who's dead now?" The therapist looked for the name tag tied to the stem.

* * *

"Kibuishi Azusa," Kitano said. "Most unfortunate." He crossed through her name. How long before her stem merged in with the other flowers?

Junko sat in her office at Raira Academy as she finished up her paperwork for the day. She smirked as she watched as the second of the little lights on her tablet screen die out.

"And then there were fifty-one," the nurse muttered to herself.

* * *

-Two Years Ago-

Yoemon had bags until his eyes as he was covered in sweat. He couldn't stop fidgeted as he kept adjusting the camera.

"There is something that I have noticed for quite some time now," he said in a hoarse voice. "Modern technology is ruining us all. Japan is too busy staring at their cell phones to look up. They rely on them for everything. Cell phones are how we end up with sites like DeathVine on the deep web. If someone was going to jump to their death from a tall building, today's youth would be too busy filming it with their phones to help or call 119. Cell phones have allowed their vanity and desperate need for attention to get out of hand."

Yoemon messed with his hair before he broke down screaming. After about ten minutes, he calmed down.

"But don't worry, my students," he said. "I found a way to cleanse Japan of this cancer known as cell phones. I have begun developing the program to kill it all. I can't tell you what it is because I am being watched. Japan won't be safe for me for long…"

* * *

-Present Day-

-Izaya and Kitano-

"Tell me something, Izaya-san," Kitano spoke up at his desk. "What circle of hell would you end up in?" Izaya turned around from the window.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Are you familiar with the Inferno section Dante's  _Divine Comedy_?" the therapist asked.

"I believe I am," Izaya replied.

"So, which circle of hell would you end up in if died, if it was possible?"

The information broker took a minute to think about this. "I would probably say the eighth circle."

"Ah, the fraud circle. You would fit in with the seducers and flatters."

"And what about you?"

Kitano took a moment to think. "I don't really know. I am leaning towards the ninth circle myself."

"Betrayal, huh?"

"I would believe myself to be so." Kitano looked down at his notepad. "I lost another one of my pets tonight."

"Oh?" Izaya asked. "Which one this time?"

"Kibuishi Azusa," the therapist said. "She eighteen when she died. Her mother brought her to Chou Mori when she tried to slit her wrists in the bathtub. Perfect fit for the Tadpole Project. You can read the rest in her patient file here." Kitano handed Izaya the file. The information broker raised his eyebrow.

"Don't get too excited," the therapist said. "There's nothing in there about the project itself. The only reason I gave you this file now was because I figured you would catch wind of her death and start digging around again. Might as well tell you and get it out of the way now."

"Right…" Izaya muttered as he started looking at the file.

* * *

-Izaya and Mari-

"I want to die right now," Mari complained as she stared at the computer screen in the basement.

"Hm?" Izaya asked as he walked over to her desk. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the screen.

"What is that?" he asked.

"The Dis Program I got six night ago," his friend-with-benefits said. "I'm still trying to decode and set the program into motion."

"Wouldn't that be an easy thing for you?" Izaya asked. Mari shook her head.

"I've never seen anything like it before it my life," she mumbled. "It's both complex and uses practically out of date codes." The information broker leaned on her shoulders.

"Can't you get someone to help you?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, the only one who knows how to decode this is dead," she said. Izaya couldn't help but smile at the challenge.

"I could track down his colleagues and see if they can be of any use," he offered. Mari turned to him with dead-looking eyes before her red-framed glasses.

"Will I have to do anything for you in return?" she asked. Izaya smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, Mari-chan," he said. "Don't you know I'm not  _that_  cruel?"

"But you don't do anything for free either."

"You got me there."

"So… What do I have to do as payment for you to get his colleagues to help me out?"

The information broker patted her on the head. "I'll tell you when I can think of one." Mari was too tired to even let out a nervous chuckle.

"How is your sister, by the way?" she asked. Izaya drew back his hand.

"Good," he said. "She's doing good."

"I see," Mari said as she went back to typing. "That's good to hear."

* * *

-Six Months Ago-

Yoemon-sensei leaned in close to the camera, panting.

"I have almost done it!" he said with his voice almost gone. "Japan will be free from all of it! I will cleanse my beloved homeland back to its purest roots! The Woman in Red will come and purify the world with her destruction! I just have to get the program back to Tandeki once it's finished, but I have to be careful. I am being watched here in Russia just like I was back in Japan. If the Russians get a hold of this program, Tandeki will never keep hold of its lead. I will not fail Kitano-sensei! This is for him! All of it is for him!"

The professor reached forward and turned off his camera after about three hours of rambling about the Woman in Red and the End of Days.

His eyes looked so red and empty.

* * *

-Present Day-

-Kitano-

The next morning, Kitano and Etsuko gathered up their interns in an unused laboratory in Rampo Biotech. The therapist looked among the group eight.

"We're going to try something a little bit different today," he said. "How many of you have a background in chemistry?" Five hands went up.

"Good, good," Kitano said. "Come with me."


	9. Anna

Halo Eight: Anna:

-Anna-

My name is Konoe Anna. I am an heir to the Konoe Pharmaceutical Company based out of Kobe, Japan. Today's a really special day for me.

I walked into Rampo Biotech all-smiles. Ever since Kitano-sensei gave us interns permission to architect pills for the Tadpole Project, I got right to planning.

"How many of you have a background in chemistry?" he asked. I was quick to raise my hand. Asato-sensei had using doing practice runs with creating drugs for this project. So far, I was learning, but I was itching to put my skills into good use. Sometimes, after the work day was over, I would consult her about certain formulas to work on my little pet project for the tadpoles.

I walked in with it today.

"Good morning!" I said as I went on my tip-toes in the Heartseed room. My colleagues all glared at me. Okay, I might be a little too perky in the mornings, especially today. But, I can't help it. I can't wait to show off my baby. We all drew straws on the order we were going last night. I drew to go first and I get to show off my baby for this project. What is my baby, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

I call her Cutie Aphrodite. She took so much planning. Ever since junior high, I wanted to break down the "love potion". To me, mermaids, kappa, and unicorns were more believable than some drink or drug that could make someone fall in love with you. But, people throw away so much money just to be loved. I couldn't figure it out and thus beginning Cutie Aphrodite's birth. I committed myself to have this drug to be perfect.

Yuka-san stood by the Heartseed plant while Kitano-sensei and Asato-sensei sat in a room behind a two-way mirror.

"You may begin the experiment," Kitano-sensei said over his microphone.

"Uh… Good morning, everyone," Yuka-san said. "My name is Ogawa Yuka and I will be conducting the addition of the augmentation to the test subjects." A brief applause filled the room.

"Thank you," she said. "Now, who is going first?" I raised hand seconds after that question left her mouth.

"Oooo! Me! Me!" I said.

"Easy there, Konoe," Asato-sensei said over her mic. "Remember what I told you before." I cleared my throat and lowered my head.

"I apologize," I said, bowing.

"What do you have for us today?" Yuka-san asked. I broke into a smug smile as I pulled out my container of pills.

"Ta-da!" I said. I walked up and handed the container to Yuka-san.

"What is this?" she asked as she looked at the dark crystal blue heart-shaped pills inside.

"Cutie Aphrodite!" I announced.

"Why are these tablets heart-shaped?" she asked. I covered my mouth as I giggled.

"Give it to the tadpoles and you'll see," I said. Yuka-san narrowed her eyes.

"Okay," she said. "Our first drug that will be administered into the augmentation experiment has been given to us by Konoe Anna whom has named her drug Aphrodite."

" _Cutie_  Aphrodite!" I corrected. Yuka-san frowned and rolled her eyes. She twisted the plastic container open.

"You remember how to insert the pills into the flowers, yes?" Kitano-sensei asked.

"Yes, sensei," Yuka-san said. I never get tired of seeing those little flowers in bloom, waiting to be fed the next drug we concoct. Yuka-san took one heart-shaped tablet and held it inches away from one of those flowers.

"How many pills does each one gets?" she asked.

"One for this first round," I said.

"Got it," Yuka-san said. I squealed to myself as each little flower was fed a heart-shaped tablet. They look strangely cute as they close back up into little buds after their meal. After the last flower was fed, they whole plant began to glow a dark crystal blue. My heart did little flips as I could picture the results to follow.

* * *

-Mikado-

Around ten a.m., Mikado's troubles were pushed into the awkward zone.

"And you're sure it's over?" Masaomi asked.

"Yes," Mikado said. It felt so nice to just have heightened senses again without random episodes again. Still, he knew that he couldn't rest. Kitano and his team could be plotting to do another experiment on them as they spoke. Mikado's eyes shifted back and forth uneasy. Masaomi grabbed his hand. The tadpole looked up to see caring eyes staring back at him.

"You still have me," Masaomi said. "I won't leave you no matter what they decide to do to you." Mikado stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Thank you, Masaomi," he said in a low voice. In that moment, the boys noticed a freshman girl standing in front of them. She was a cute, little thing with her head up to Mikado's chest. She had little stars in her eyes as she stared at the tadpole boy. The senior gave her a strange look.

"Uh… hello…" he said.

"Hi!" the girl said with her focus on Mikado. He blinked as she didn't move from where she was standing.

"I'm sorry, but can I help you with something?" the tadpole boy asked. The girl's cheeks turned bright pink.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted. "I just think you're really hot!" The girl turned and ran away as fast as she could. Mikado and Masaomi stood there, blinking.

"Okay… What was all of that about?" Masaomi asked. Mikado shook his head.

She wouldn't be the only girl either.

All day, Mikado had girls eyeing him and blushing. They would have dreamy looks in their eyes when he walked by. Mikado could hear them whispering about how hot he was. They all wondered if he was single. Some of the senior girls would smile and wink at him. The freshmen and second-year girls giggled around him. One would walk by and run her things along his hair. They kept telling him how attractive they found him.

"You are so cute!" the freshman girls said to him around lunch. Mikado tried to laugh off.

"Thanks, I guess…" he said. The poor tadpole looked around for a way to escape. More and more girls seemed to want to shower him in affection. They wanted to spend more time with him. The girls would blush and shutter when they would try to talk to the tadpole boy. The bolder ones were open with their flirtation. Eight girls offered to eat lunch with him. Mikado had to politely turned them down.

"No thank you," he kept telling them. "But thanks for the invitation." Mikado had wished that it had stopped with lunch requests and flirting.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" a senior girl asked just as lunch was over.

"No…" Mikado said. She looked like she would fly away. It didn't take long for the word that Ryugamine Mikado was single throughout Raira Academy. It didn't take long for the love letters to fill his desk. By now, even Masaomi started to get a little bit uncomfortable.

"Why do all of these girls hitting on you?" he asked in the hallway during clean-up. His friend shook his head with unease.

"Oh, boys," someone said. "I am so glad I found you." Mikado and Masaomi frowned when they heard that Scottish accent behind. Against their better judgement, they turned to see Junko smiling at them. The nurse whistled at Mikado.

"My, my, my, Chirin-kun," she said. "You've gotten quite popular with the ladies today." The tadpole boy backed up behind his friend.

"What do you want, sensei?" Masaomi asked, growling. Junko's smirked reminded him of Izaya's.

"Nothing, just an observation," she said. The Yellow Scarves' shogun narrowed his eyes as Junko turned and walked away. He was about to open his mouth when Mikado's phone rang.

"Excuse me," he said. The tadpole pulled out his phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hello, Chirin," Kitano's voice floated into his ear. Mikado's body broke down trembling.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" he asked. "What did you do to me now?"

"Oh, I just made every girl in Ikebukuro fall madly in love with you," the therapist said so nonchalantly.

"Why?!"

"It's all part of your augmentations."

"Augmentations?"

"Yes. I decided to let our interns in on the fun with our experiments. It's all part of your evolution, Chirin-kun."

"Can't you make these girls  _not_  fall in love with me?"

"Why would I do that?"

Mikado's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Enjoy your new gift. It'll get better and you'll get many more gifts." Kitano hung up before his pet could say another word. Mikado sank to the floor with the color drained from his face.

"Mikado? Mikado?" Masaomi asked.

* * *

-Nami-

Meanwhile, Nami found herself in the same boat at her school.

At ten o'clock, a senior boy that rarely even noticed her in school tracked her down when she was putting away her shoes. She turned to see a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring at her. Nami jumped backwards.

"Whoa!" she shouted. "How long have you been standing there?" The boy quickly bowed.

"I'm so sorry!" he said. "You were just so beautiful I got lost just staring at you."

"Huh?" Nami asked. She expected him to laugh and say that he was joking. Her face dropped when he didn't.

"Oh… Thanks, I guess," she said after a few seconds.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" the senior boy asked out of the blue. Nami gave him a blank stare.

"No…" she said. The boy quickly grabbed her by the hands.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked. "I know it's sudden, but please?" Nami stared at him, struggling to come up with a way to politely turn him down.

"Uh…" she said. The bell rang just in time.

"Uh… It's time for class!" Nami quick to say. She slipped from his grasp and ran away as fast as she could.

"At least think about it?" the senior boy asked. That question only made her run faster.

It didn't end there.

Nami had many guys surrounding her desk, asking for her phone number. They talked about how pretty, cute, or hot she was. Nami tried to laugh off the compliments as she tried desperately to not look she wanted to flee the building. Many of the boys in her class asked to be her boyfriend. It didn't take long for the school to learn that she was single. The whole time, Nami hoped that this was a strange dream she was having. By the time she received the hundredth love letter in her desk, she was dismayed to find that she wasn't dreaming.

To her surprise, she wasn't alone.

_Nami-chan. Nami-chan. Nami-chan!_

Nami stopped in her tracks in the hallway and looked around. She raised her eyebrow as she noticed that she was the only person in the hall at that time.

"That sounded like Kohaku-chan just now," she said to herself.

_It is!_

Nami took a step back and started looking around. "But where are you? I don't see you anywhere."

_I'm hiding in the girl's bathroom._

"Why are you hiding in there? How are you talking in my head right now?"

_I don't know myself._

_I told her how to do this._

Nami about stumbled backwards. "Tetsu? You too?"

_Talk to us in your head. Close your mouth and focus on us._

The tadpole girl closed her eyes tightly.  _Like this?_

_Yes_ , Tetsu and Kohaku said.

_Wow. We can do this now? But how?_

_I don't know yet_ , Tetsu said.

Kohaku remembered what she wanted to say.  _Hey, has anyone noticed everyone acting strange around their school?_

Nami paused.  _Now that you mention it, every guy in my school has started hitting on me._

Kohaku asked,  _You too?_

Tetsu added,  _Yeah, I've been having girls hit on me at college too. Ew. First of all, I'm gay and second I have a boyfriend! And I think I know who is to blame._

Kohaku asked,  _You don't mean…?_

Tetsu snorted.  _Who else do you think?_

Nami asked,  _So what should we do?_

The fire tadpole added,  _Not much we can do. Try and find the others and find out what Nebula really wants from us. And then we'll have to find a way to deal with Tandeki. I don't know how, but I am thinking._  Nami lowered her gaze. Tetsu could talk them up, but it didn't really feel helpful.

* * *

-Anna-

I committed myself to have this drug to be perfect.

Chemistry is an art form. I learned that from my family even before I began school. When Kitano told us to come up with drugs for the Tadpole Project. I started right away with the notes for Cutie Aphrodite. Everything had to be perfect about her from her heart shape to her the last chemical inside. I took great steps too. The math had to calculated to the right detail. The measures had to be just right. I wouldn't be satisfied until Cutie Aphrodite was perfect. I have my motives for creating this drug.

If our tadpoles are going to witness the apocalypse, they might as well get some action in the bedroom before the new world is created. Hell, they should get some action in the new world too. Right now, the opposite sex will find our pets irresistible and fall in love with them. But why stop there? The same sex will be attracted them. The tadpoles will have excellent social skills. Know how to handle social situations. And as an extra, be a little bit smarter and stronger. I don't expect all of this to happen right away. There has to be limits to this drug. Like I said before, the measures had to be just right. We can't have their admirers being obsessive and fighting over them, now can we? The measures of the drug have to be just right.

I am doing this for me.

* * *

-Tadpole Test-

"Take a step back," Shingen told Celty in her apartment. The dullahan took a step back in the living room.

"Anything yet?" the doctor asked.

"Nothing, dear," Emilia said as she looked at her tablet. Nami sat on the couch with her palm up and open.

"Keep backing up," the older doctor said. Celty backed up to the front door.

"Anything?" Shingen asked.

"No," Nami and Emilia said.

"Okay, Celty, go outside and go downstairs," the older doctor told the dullahan. Celty walked out the front door. Shingen waited for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, water gushed from Nami's water like a fountain.

"It's working!" Emilia said as she looked at her chart on the tablet. She saved the data and turned it off. Shingen made some quick notes on his tablet.

"That's enough," he said. "You can stop now." Nami put down her hand and panted. Emilia looked like a little girl who received a new pink tricycle for her birthday.

"Can I go now?" she asked.

"Not yet," Shingen said. "There is still something I need to ask you." Nami froze.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I ran some tests on your blood this morning and nothing something peculiar. Have there been any changes lately?" The tadpole bit her lower lip as she lowered her eyes.

"Well, all of the guys at me school have been hitting on me," she said.

"Go on…" Shingen said.

"They give me love letters, asked me out on dates, and asked me to be their girlfriend," Nami added. "And the thing is some of these boys never talked to me before. They didn't even notice me until today."

"I see," he said. He took down the new information in his notes. Nami didn't tell him about the other "gift" the tadpoles inherited from the last experiment. Tetsu and Kohaku told her not to.

"We can't tell them we can now talk to each other telepathically," Tetsu warned her in her mind when she left school. "We can't trust Nebula until we learn what their real motives are."

"I understand," Nami said. But now, she wondered how long they all could keep it a secret until Nebula found out themselves.

* * *

-Anna-

Like I said before, I am an heir to the Konoe Pharmaceutical Company based out of Kobe, Japan. But, that isn't exactly a happy thing. My parents' marriage fell apart when I was eight, but the company remained. My grandma, the true owner of Konoe Pharmaceutical, said that they to work together.

"Your marriage maybe over," she said. "But I refuse to have you destroy what I built from the ground up." As a result, mom and dad still work together in the same house as me. It still works, right? I mean, Dolce and Gabbana are exes, but they still work together. Despite the bitterness between my parents and the house constantly on the verge of war, my parents and grandma all assure me that I will still inherit the company.

"Will I still get the company now that you and papa are breaking up?" I asked when I was ten years old.

"Of course you will, honey," Mom said. But, that company seems to bright misfortune to relationships. I want to still be married and my husband to live as long as me.

Which is way I am doing this for me. I dove right into creating the second batch of Cutie Aphrodite.

* * *

-Mikado-

Mikado was asleep in his futon when he found himself pulled further into his role for the End of Days.

_Hello? Can you hear me?_


	10. Henshuubyou

Halo Nine: Henshuubyou:

[I am Henshuubyou, the paranoia dragon. Don't mind the many eyes all over my body. They are there to keep watch over everything. I have been trapped in Tartarus since the fall of the Woman in Red. When she was sealed away in the Land of the Dead, my brothers and I were sealed lower than Hell. Many a night, I dreamed of flying in the skies of the Living World again.

Today, I get that chance again.]

-Celty and Shinra-

"[What does your father plan to do with Mikado and them?]" Celty typed on her PDA.

"He still won't tell me," Shinra said on the couch. "I asked him again this morning and he told me I didn't need to know. I reminded him that I was already involved in this case. He still won't tell anything." The doctor paused when he saw the worried looked on her non-existent face.

"Don't worry, I won't let dad or Nebula do anything extreme to them," he promised.

"[They've already been through enough,]" Celty typed. "[I don't blame them for not trusting us.]"

"I'll see what I can do for them," Shinra promised.

[She doesn't really believe him. They're all just children in her eyes. Horribly abused children who are suffering again at the hands of cruel adults. Speaking of which, I see actual children walking around with orange paper lanterns at night. They have been told it will keep the demons away from them. Their families and teachers warned them not to walk around alone at night. If they have to, the lanterns have to lit and by their side at all times. The lights make me think of Obon and Halloween mixed together.

Only those children can see me. My eyes follow them wherever they go. The adults are starting to take the children's demons sightings more seriously. The demons want to do many things to them. Eat them. Sprit them away. Kill them. Terrorize them. I don't have any interest in children. Their bones are too soft.

What I want is to be reunited with my brothers and fly through the skies just like in the old days.]

* * *

-Aoba, Kururi, and Mari-

Aoba, Kururi, and Mari sat in the kitchen. Her royal highness Kururi was texting on her phone. Mari sat at her laptop, typing away. Aoba looked between the two women. He thought about saying something, but the words fell flat in his brain. He still hadn't figured out a way to get Mairu back. He still needed to know how she died before her birth. In order to do that, he would have to suck it up and do the impossible for himself.

Aoba looked at his phone.  _Come on, you bastard. Get here so that I don't have to talk to you anymore._

The three people around the table looked up when they heard the door open.

"I'm home," Izaya said. Kururi jumped out of her seat and raced over to the doorway.

"Nii-san!" she said in a happy tone. Izaya walked into the kitchen doorway. Kururi ran over and gave her brother a big hug.

"I miss you so much, Nii-san!" she said. The information broker smiled to himself.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "I missed you too." Aoba tried to look about from the public display of affection. Ever since Mairu was erased, Izaya and Kururi had become a little too… close. Did he have to have his hands on her ass? Aoba's "girlfriend" giggled as she nuzzled him on the neck. Mari looked away as she cleared her throat. Izaya removed his hand from Kururi's behind. He happened to look up and see Aoba sitting on the table with judging eyes.

"Hello, Aoba," he said. The younger boy waved his hand.

"Hi, Izaya," he muttered. The girl he was supposed to love was the only one who was keeping them civil. Could she at least stop hanging all over him like that? Izaya looked over at Mari at her laptop.

"How are you coming work?" he asked.

"Good," Mari said. "I still think I want to die." Izaya gently pushed Kururi off and walked over to the programmer.

"How far have you gotten?" he asked.

"I finished the beginning," she said. "Thanks for that information you gave me yesterday."

"I do keep my word," Izaya purred in her ear. Mari tried to back away. The whole time, Kururi stood near the doorway, glaring at the intern. Aoba rubbed his forehead and sighed.

[The boy wishes things could go back to the way things were before his girl's sister was erased. His girlfriend has turned into a slave driver and he is her tool. This does not sit well with him. Whether he wants to admit it, but he's lost power. The miniature king has been dethroned.

It makes me sad in a way.

My brothers and I used to rule the skies. Our bodies were big enough to block out the sky. Unlike my brothers, I didn't pay much attention to the screaming below. Humans feared us. Personally, I don't see why. We have never interacted with them while we were in the sky. Sure, they felt the effects of our powers influencing them, but we never did anything to them directly. Only adults seem to be afraid of us. The children stare at us with wonder and curiosity.

They aren't the only ones who can see us, though.]

* * *

-Tadpoles-

_Mikado. Mikado. Mikado!_

Mikado froze and looked around his room. Masaomi was sound asleep in the futon.

"Who's there?" the tadpole boy asked.

_It's only me._

Mikado made a strange face. "Emily?"

_Talk to me with your mind. Focus on me and try to talk._

The tadpole boy closed his eyes.  _Like this?_

_Could you speak up some? I can barely hear you._

_How about now?_

_Yes, I can hear you are._

_What do you want? How are we talking to each other like this?_

_I don't really know yet. I just needed someone to talk to._

_Are you okay?_

_Not really…_

_What's the matter?_

_I am worried about how we are going to deal with this in long run. How many more experiments will they have deal with? I don't know how long I can keep Taiyou a secret from Mama any longer._

_It'll be okay if we stay together._

_Are you sure about that?_

Her question gave him pause. He began to remember Azusa at Ikebukuro Station. Her face stained with tears. He tried to offer her help. Shingen and Emilia could've helped her make sense of her powers and maybe control them. Mikado's heart sank when he saw the tadpole girl's death on the news.

Kibuishi Azusa.

He didn't even know her name before she died. Mikado was just looking up information about her again when Emily contacted him.

He closed his eyes.  _I saw one of our own die three days ago._

_What?_

Mikado dropped his head.  _Masaomi and I were down at Ikebukuro Station. I was in the middle of an episode. Masaomi and I were about to fight when I sense another one of us nearby. You remember that suicide on the news, right?_

_Yes._

_Well, that was our "sister" as they would call her. I tried to get Kibuishi-san not to jump and let us help you, but she jumped in front of the train anyway._  Mikado buried his head in his hands.

_I couldn't save her._

_When were you going to tell us, Mikado-san?_

Mikado lifted his head and gulped.  _I… I don't know…_

_This is what I am talking about. How can you say that we have each other when you won't tell us when you run into one of our own and can't help them?_

_But I didn't even know her name._

_That doesn't matter! She was one of us! You can't keep something like this to yourself! That's it! You're going to tell everyone tomorrow!_

Mikado froze at his computer.  _Emily…_

_I don't want to hear it! You have to tell the others! They need to know about Azusa!_

He sighed and dropped his shoulders. _Fine._

_Thank you._

_When did you get this pushy?_

_When you said that we have each other to survive._

_Did I really say that?_

_Yes. Yes you did._

_Heh._

* * *

Tetsu didn't know how this happened.

_Excuse me?_

Midori narrowed her eyes.  _Have you told your partner yet?_

_No…_

_How long do you think you can keep all of this from him?_

Tetsu lay back on his bed next to Taichi.  _I don't know. I'm scared of how he's going to take it. What if I end up scaring him away? I already had a time getting my fire powers under control enough so that I could touch him again._

_And keeping this a secret from him makes this any better… how?_

He frowned as he puffed up his cheeks.  _It doesn't._

_Then, you'll have to suck it up and tell him. I can understand you not trusting those Nebula guys, but your boyfriend is not part of Nebula. And you are going to need somebody to ground you when things get worse. Mikado has Masaomi to do that for him. It is okay for Taichi to do the same for you._

_But…_

_Do you really love Taichi?_

_Of course I do!_

_Does Taichi love you the same way?_

_Yes!_

_Then, you should have nothing to worry about. Just gently tell him the truth and show him your power. Since he loves you so much, he will accept you for who you are. What they did to us is not our fault._

_Yes, yes._

[Those tadpoles have every right to be worried. They don't see it yet, but their lives will get harder as the End of Days draws near. They are being made into godlike beings just so they can see the end. They cannot revert back to what they were nor can they control the changes in their bodies. The next one is coming for them and they can't see it.]

* * *

-Aoi and Satsu-

Satsu leaned on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Babe, what is it about this Kitano-sensei that drove our professor mad?"

Aoi glanced up at her. " _Our_  professor?"

"Yoemon-sensei seems like an interesting fellow. Nice, normal middle-aged man with a good, stable job at Tokyo University and happily married to his wife for twenty-three years. He begins his video lecture series for the university that he works at. Then one day, he goes to a conference and meets this mysterious Kitano-sensei." Satsu nuzzled Aoi on her left ear.

"The real story is what turns him into a paranoid conspiracy theorist with a grudge against cell phones. And what is this Apocalypse game that he keeps talking about? Who are Tandeki, Vozrozhdeniye, and Mam?" She pulled her girlfriend closer to her chest.

"Spine-tingling stuff, wouldn't you agree?" the brunette asked. Aoi shivered.

"I guess," she said. "You do make it sound that way." Satsu giggled.

"I can't wait to see where this all takes us," she said.

[And you will find out real soon, my dear. My brothers will join me in the skies once again. In fact, another will be by my side again in a few weeks' time. It makes me happy because I have been so lonely up here in the skies I call my kingdom.]

* * *

-Hikari and Izaya-

Hikari leaned in close with a huge grin on her face.

"You're going to die again," she said. Izaya didn't look impressed.

"What else is new?" he asked. The possessed girls floated as she kept up with the information broker.

"We're taking bets on how you're going to die this time," she said.

"Heh."

"Would you like to know what my bet is?"

"You're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"

The possessed girl broke into a huge smile. "Secret!"

Izaya turned around and nobody was there. The information broker frowned as he began to ways to exercise Hisan from that girl's body once and for all.

* * *

-Kitano and Etsuko-

Kitano and Etsuko looked at the Heartseed plant in the glass. Azusa's stem almost sank into the rest of the plant. Kitano turned his attention his partner.

"Let's see what happens next, shall we?" he asked.

"Yes," Etsuko replied.

[I can't wait to see what happens for myself too.]


	11. Azusa

Halo Ten: Azusa:

-Azusa-

I didn't exactly have a normal life, but it was somewhat stable. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was eleven years old. I was quite moody child back then. Momma said I would run off crying at random times. One teacher said that I bit a boy in class for no reason. I don't know, I would just act out sometimes and not know why.

I was on medication for a short time when I was eleven or twelve. Momma didn't really believe that I was bipolar at the time.

"That's just ridiculous!" she said with a snort. "Who ever heard of a child with bipolar disorder?" My mother was never a fan of doctors. She believed that they made up their diagnoses just to milk more money out of their patients. In fact, it was her older sister, my beloved aunt's idea to take me to the doctors in the first place.

"What will people think?" she asked. "You don't want her to end up in foster care, do you?"

"I don't want my baby turned into a zombie," Momma complained. "I've heard the horror stories of people on medication. Some even become addicted."

"She's too young for your natural treatments!" my aunt said. "If you are not careful, you could do more harm than good to her." In the end, Momma had to take me to the doctor just to shut my aunt up.

To be honest, I actually did well without my medication for about two years. But then, it all came apart with my beloved aunt died in a car accident. Her death hit both Momma and myself hard. My condition grew worse and I practically couldn't function at school. I didn't remember a day when I wasn't crying. My mood swings, screaming, and lashing out earned me the reputation of being a violent girl at my school. I am surprised that my friends, Mai and Chiho, stayed with me. My mom couldn't handle constantly coming out to the school to talk to my teachers. They suggested that I go back on medication. I even thought that would help me. At that point, I just didn't want to feel anything anymore. But, Momma wouldn't hear it.

"I refuse to make you an addicted zombie!" she shouted at me. I couldn't understand why Momma hated doctors so much. I was just tired of the mood swings, screaming, and tearing up my room. I guess, she got sick of it too.

By the time I was sixteen, Momma finally betrayed me and herself as I expected she would sooner or later. By January, she had me committed to Chou Mori Institution.

* * *

-Mikado and Masaomi-

Mikado saw in a corner of his apartment. Satoshi's death gave him the ability to hear the thoughts of one person. No thanks to Azusa's death, this unwanted gift had increased, giving him the ability to hear the thoughts of two to three people near him. That trait he could deal with, but…

_What ability did Kibuishi-san have to make her want to end her own life so badly?_

"Mikado?" the tadpole boy heard over his head. He looked up to see Masaomi giving him a concerned look.

"You okay there, buddy?" the blonde boy asked. Mikado trembled as he looked down at the floor.

"Come on," his friend said, sighing. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

"I don't think you can help me," Mikado said in a low voice.

"Oh, don't be like that," Masaomi said. "I told you I am not leaving you." He reached out and took Mikado by his right wrist. A small pulsing wave shot through his body. The tadpole's eyes widened. His best friend started panting heavily as his pupils dilated.

"Kida… -kun?" Mikado asked. Suddenly, Masaomi rushed forward and kissed him on the lips. The poor tadpole didn't get time to react. This wasn't a little kiss either. Masaomi tried to shove his tongue into the tadpole boy's mouth.

_Oh, I just have to have him!_

Panicked, Mikado pushed him away as fast as he could. Masaomi sat up with a blank stare on his face.

"Uh… What just happened?" he asked. Mikado stared at him as if the blonde was going to pounce on him and eat him alive.

"Mikado?" Masaomi asked. The tadpole boy ran into his bathroom and locked the door.

"Mikado? Mikado?" his best friend asked, knocking on the door. "What's going on? What happened? What is the matter?" Inside, Mikado drew his knees to his chest. This reminded him of what he did to Anri during the last experiment.

* * *

-One Week Earlier-

Masaomi fought to keep Mikado in his sight at all times. Lucky for him this experiment took place over the weekend. The Friday itself was a headache. Mikado kept either running off, trying to start a random gang war in the city, or yelling out in class. It didn't help that Junko seemed to be mocking him.

"My, my, my, Chirin-kun," she said to him during classroom cleaning. "Aren't you a lively boy today?" Mikado began panting heavily as soon as those words ran through his ears.

_Smack her down! Smack her down!_

Mikado's nostrils flared as he slowly began walking closer. He had his hand held open and fanned, slowly being raised. Junko raised her eyebrow.

"And what are you planning to do?" she asked. Mikado's footsteps grew slower as he came closer. Masaomi ran over and grabbed his best friend.

"Come with me," he whispered. "Don't make a scene." Junko couldn't help but smirk. She turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Masaomi asked. Mikado shook his head.

* * *

The boys would've gotten through the day with no more problems. But then, she came into the frame.

Mikado and Masaomi tried to run home as fast as they could. The blonde kept his eyes on his best friend.

"Don't talk to anyone. Don't look at anyone," he whispered. Mikado looked so pale as he nodded. They just needed to make it through the school gates and make it back to his apartment. Just a few more steps.

"Guys?" they heard behind them. The boys could've kept walking and without looking back. The gates were just a few more steps. Just a few more steps.

Mikado just had to turn around.

Anri raced over to catch up to them. When he saw her, he broke into heavy breathing as his pupils dilated.

"Don't do anything stupid," Masaomi said. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Mikado-kun?" Anri asked. Before she knew it, the founder of the Dollars ran towards her before Masaomi could grab a hold of him. Mikado grabbed Anri by her slender waist and forcefully kissed her on the lips. Not just a little one either. The boy looked like he was trying to suck poor Anri's face off. She couldn't move as he pinned her against the brick wall. The whole time, Anri froze as she panicked. It didn't help that Mikado tried to use his tongue as well.

Masaomi stood with his jaw dropped. On a normal day, he would be cheering his best friend on for finally making a move on the girl they both adored. But, this wasn't Mikado in his normal mind. Plus, Anri didn't look like she was enjoying the kiss. The blonde-haired boy ran over to his friends.

"That's enough!" Masaomi shouted. "Let her breathe, man!" It took all of his strength to pry his best friend off of the poor girl. Mikado stood with a blank stare on his face. Anri leaned against the brick wall, panting. The tadpole panicked as he realized what he had done. He looked between his friends. Masaomi had a concerned look on his face while Anri stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Mikado?" the blonde-haired boy asked. The tadpole boy ended up turning around and running away.

* * *

-Now-

That was not how he wanted his first kiss to go.

Mikado touched his own wrist. "You just kissed me." Masaomi stood outside of the bathroom with a strange look on his face.

"What?" he asked. Mikado gulped and lowered his head.

"You grabbed my wrist, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"What did you feel when you touched me?"

Masaomi paused and took a moment to remember. "Well… I did feel a warm shock run through my body." It all slowly began to come back in his head.

"Oh…" the blonde said quietly. "I am so sorry for that, dude."

Mikado drew his knees to his chest. "Is that how you really felt about me?"

His friend took a step back from the door. "I… I don't know…" The tadpole closed his eyes.

"Do you remember that girl who jumped in front of the train in Ikebukuro stations last week?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Masaomi asked.

"She was like me."

"What?"

Mikado rubbed his wrist. "I don't think we should touch for a while."

"What?"

"I think I know what Azusa's power was."

* * *

-Azusa-

Despite being a mess with my bipolar depression, I was still loved.

Mom loved me in her unconventional ways. Mai and Chiho stayed beside me even after seeing me at my worst. Even through my storms, I had a true love.

His name was Keizo. I didn't understand what he saw in a messed-up girl like me. My friends were the ones who pushed me to talk to him in the first place.

"Aw, he might like you back," Chiho told me after I came home from Chou Mori.

"I'm not too sure that's a good idea," I said. She pushed me forward right after the words left my move. Chiho and Mai gave me the V-sign and mouthed "good luck" at me. I turned to the hot looking boy playing on his cell phone on the train. He looked up at me and my heart pounded against my chest.

"Can I help you?" he asked. I shuffled my feet as my face turned bright red.

"Uh… I'm… I'm… Azusa!" I said, bowing. The silence made it that much worse. I prayed that he would say something back.

"Okay…" this beautiful boy said. I stood up, staring at him. I think Mai and Chiho had to pull me away because it was getting awkward. Nevertheless, I managed to win Keizo over and we started to date. Despite mom and I still being awkward around each other, things were going great now that I have rejoined my normal life after Chou Mori closed down.

That was until four months ago.

It started with my mom. I remember the afternoon of my "awakening". I ended up going home early because I had fallen ill. Mom came by my school to come and pick me up. (Yes, she still didn't trust doctors or nurses. That distrust grew after she learned about the horror of Chou Mori.)

"Mom, I am fine enough to go back to class," I said.

"No!" she said. "You are coming with me. I have plenty of herbal juices and treatments that will fix you right up!"

"But, I'm fine," I said.

"I won't hear it," mom said. "We are leaving right now!" She grabbed me by the wrist, but then she paused. I noticed that the pupils in her eyes started to dilate. She began breathing heavily. Mom let go of my wrist.

"Herbs!" she shouted.

"What?" I asked. She turned around and walked away.

"Herbs! Herbs! Herbs!" mom kept saying. I ran after her with a sinking feeling in my gut. I had gotten outside of my school, my phone rang. I froze as I looked down at my bag. Against my better judgement, I pulled out my phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello, Little Swallow," an old man said on the other line. My spine froze as I began to have flashbacks about when I was in Chou Mori.

"Kitano… -sen… sei?" I asked. I sank to my knees.

"I called to congratulate you on your awaking," he said.

"My awaking?"

"This is only the first step in your journey to become a superior being."

"What did you do to my mom?"

"Nothing. You woke up her deepest desires."

"Her desires? What are you talking about?"

"Good luck and grow in your evolution." Kitano-sensei hung up before I could ask any more questions. His words alone made my stomach drop.

_Mom…_

Within three days, mom spent all of our money on her herbs, natural blends, and other health items. She would eat and drink everything herbal. There ended up being barely any food in the house. When I did try to buy things like Cup of Noodle and meat, mom would always throw them out.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" she asked. "So much salt! So much preserves! Modern food is so full of poisons! There are trying to kill us all!" We didn't have our aunt to reign her in. Things got worse when bills started piling up and our power got cut off. Mom started wasting away and looking pale.

"Mom!" I cried. "You have to stop this! You're making yourself sick! We're about to lose our house! We have no food or power! You haven't been to work in days! Please go back to being normal!" I shook her in vain as I screamed at her. Mom looked up at with a dazed smile on sullen face.

"I just want to be healthy," she said in a whisper.

"You are not healthy anymore!" I cried. "I'm going to take you to a doctor!" She grabbed with her frail hand.

"No!" she cried. "They're just going to pump full of drugs and make a mindless zombie!" Her words shook me to the core. I shook her off of me and ran out of the house. Days later, a neighbor found mom dead in the kitchen of malnutrition. I didn't even learn about it until I saw it on the news.

* * *

-Tetsu-

"Babe, I have something to tell you," Tetsu admitted at last. Taichi stared at him from the couch.

"What is it?" he asked. The tadpole shifted his eyes back and forth before he held out his right hand. A bright golden flame appeared just about the palm. Taichi's jaw dropped.

"How are you doing that?" he asked. "Is that some sort of a special trick?"

"No," Tetsu said. "Do you remember when dad committed me to Chou Mori for being gay?"

"Yes," his boyfriend said. The tadpole put down his hand and the flame disappeared. He broke down and told his lover everything. It hurt to relive every detail of the experiment still being done to his body and all of the powers that he had. He panted by the time he was finished. Taichi pushed up his silver-framed glasses. Tetsu kept his eyes on him.

_Please say something_ , he thought.

"Are you okay now?" Taichi asked. Tetsu shook his head.

"Not really," he admitted. "I couldn't touch you all of that time because I was afraid of burning you to death by accident. I even set a trash can on fire when I first got my powers." The tadpole boy chuckled to himself before he frowned again.

"I'm just scared that you are going to leave me now because I'm some monster," he said in a low voice.

"And why would I do that?" his boyfriend asked. Tetsu looked at him with big eyes.

"Huh?" he asked. Taichi rose to his feet.

"You are still you," he said. "I still love you and we are going to get through this." The tadpole boy stared, waiting for him to say he was only joking and insult him in some way. But, Taichi didn't do that. In fact, he walked over to hug his boyfriend.

"Wait!" Tetsu said. "Could you just not hug me again? I don't know how you will react after what happened to this morning until I fully understand this new power I have." Taichi took a step back.

"I understand," he said.

* * *

-Azusa-

I've lost it all because of my awaking. My mom wasted away because she touched me. Mai ate herself to death because she hugged me. Chiho started painting day and night and started doing much of everything else. She too wasted away like my mom. The worst one was Keizo. He got so obsessed with me that he too wasted away like mom and Chiho. I ended up on the streets hoping not harm anyone else. That didn't work out so well when two of my teachers and eight strangers ended up dying because of me.

Which is why today, I have resolved to end this all before I end up hurting more people. I stood in front of the tracks at Ikebukuro Station. I blinked away the tears from my eyes.  _Forgive me, mom, Mai, Chiho, and Keizo-kun. I never wanted this. Maybe I will apologize to you in another life._

Goodbye.


	12. Nanami

Halo Eleven: Nanami:

-Nanami-

Nanami lay in her bathtub dazed.

"Sometimes, I wonder if I am worth saving," she muttered.

"What are you talking about?" her fiancé asked. The math teacher glanced over at her lover/colleague.

"Jiro-kun," she said. "Would you still love me if I was damaged goods?" Nanami heard footsteps at the bathroom door.

"What do you mean?" Jiro asked. His fiancée's eyes rolled up to the dimly-colored ceiling. How could she bring herself to tell him? It wasn't her fault that she ended up as a sex slave to some seedy gentleman's club, but would this good man ever believe her? Nanami didn't even want to know how he would react to the truth. What if he left her out of disgust? She couldn't see how she would live with herself if that happened. The teacher closed her eyes as more tears started to well up in them.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jiro asked. Nanami shook her head.

"No!" she wailed.

"What's matter?" he asked. "I want to help you, but I can't do that if you want tell me what's wrong."  _I don't think you can help me at all_ , his fiancée thought. She gulped as opened her eyes.

"Jiro-kun," Nanami spoke up.

"Hm?" her fiancé asked. She turned her head to the door opened ajar.

"Can you promise me something?" the math teacher asked.

"What is it?" Jiro asked. Nanami pressed her lips together as she closed her eyes.

"Will you stay by me no matter how ugly things get?" she asked. The teacher could feel herself starting to cry.

"You know I will," her fiancé said at last.

"Do you mean it?"

"I always will."

It didn't sound to reassuring, but it would have to do for now. Nanami looked up at the ceiling again.

"Thank you," she said in a small voice.

* * *

-Tadpoles-

The tadpoles gathered around Mikado at the public library.

"Go on, tell them," Emily said.

"Okay, okay," Mikado said.

"Tell us what?" Midori asked. The founder of the Dollars sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"You guys remember that girl who jumped in front of the train at Ikebukuro station, right?" he asked.

"What about her?" Nami asked. Mikado clenched his fists at his sides.

"I saw her die," he said in a low voice. "She was one of us." A wave of shock washed over their faces.

"What?!" the tadpoles yelled.

"When were you going to tell us this?" Midori asked. Mikado shrugged and shook his head.

"I was in shock," he said. "I tried to get Azusa to come with us, but she chose to die instead."

"Why didn't you try harder?!" Tetsu shouted as he shot up from his chair at the table. "We could've helped her get through this! Why didn't you stop her from jumping?!"

"Lay off of him, man!" Masaomi said back. "He tried to save her. Clearly she wanted to die anyway. Don't lay this on him!" Tetsu snorted.

"Easy for you to say," he grumbled. "You're just a normal human!"

"Tetsu-kun!" a stern voice snapped. "Enough!" Tetsu turned around to see Taichi looking at him like a disappointed dad. The fire tadpole sat back down in his seat.

"Fine," he said. "I'll hold off."

"Uh… Tetsu, who's that?" Emily asked. Tetsu perked up with a glowing smile on his face.

"Oh," he said. "This is my love, Adachi Taichi." His boyfriend sat next to him, pushing up his black-framed glasses.

"Nice to meet you," he said, bowing.

"So you told him," Midori said. "Good." She turned to Mikado.

"I think Azusa chose to die because she didn't have anyone to prevent her from breaking down," she said.

"How do you mean?" Kohaku asked.

"Well, Mikado-kun has Masaomi," Midori said. "Tetsu has his partner." Tetsu nodded as he listened.

"So we need someone we are close to who's a normal to keep us grounded in a way?" he suggested.

"Exactly," the time tadpole said. "Or just someone you can be really close to that will be understanding."

"Anyone know what power that Azusa had?" Akiko asked. Mikado held onto his wrist.

"I think she could increase someone's desires," he said. "I don't think she could control it." The founder of the Dollars glanced up to see all eyes on him.

"She said that she had killed her mother, boyfriend, best friends, and a few other people because of it." The other tadpoles looked rather grim.

"I think…" Kohaku spoke up. All eyes fell on her and she drew her mouth closed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. Nami rubbed her on the back.

"No, go ahead," she said. "I'm sure you having something interesting to say. You barely speak up when we're together anyway." Kohaku looked her straight in the eye.

"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Nami insisted. The other tadpole looked at her hands.

"I think we need to find the other tadpoles as soon as possible," she said. "So they don't end up like Satoshi and Azusa."

"And how do we do that?" Akiko asked. Kohaku shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "I guess we could keep calling, texting, and e-mailing them. Plus, we can all talk to each other telepathically."

"I guess it could work out," Mikado said. Kohaku gave herself a little smile.

"See?" Nami whispered in her ear. "People will listen to you if you speak up." She nodded.

"What do we do with the new power we got from Azusa?" Akiko asked. "We now can hear more thoughts now too."

"I guess we don't talk anybody until we know how to control them better," Midori said.

"Agreed," Tetsu said.

"But what do we do with Shingen and his wife?" Nami asked. Everyone turned their attention to her. The water tadpole put up her hands in a shrug.

"They are going to find out the new changes soon anyway," she said. "What do we do with those guys?" Tetsu narrowed his eyes.

"We tell them nothing," he hissed. "We still don't know what their true motives are." The other tadpoles said nothing.

Instinct told them that they had other things to worry about.

* * *

-Kitano and Etsuko-

Kitano took the two hairs from Celty's head and held it near the tadpole blood sample on the table.

"Do you see anything on the tablet?" he asked. Etsuko looked down at on her screen.

"No," she said. Kitano slowly inched the hairs from the blood sample.

"How about now?" he asked.

"Still nothing," the doctor said. Her boss moved the hairs further away. He looked up, but Etsuko shook her head. Kitano moved the hairs further away.

"Hang on," she said. "I'm starting to get readings again. Keep moving the hairs away." Kitano stuffed his hand with the hairs in the pocket and backed up to the doorway. The therapist even went as far as to step out into the hallway for extra measure.

"The readings are coming back!" Etsuko shouted to the doorway. Kitano walked back into the room.

"Well, what do you know?" he asked. "The bored little child can be useful at times." Etsuko swiped her finger across the screen.

"I've analyzed the hairs this morning," she said. "On the surface, they look like ordinary hair you would find on a human. But look at this." Etsuko moved her finger across the screen. She blew up the image of the magnified image of one of the hairs. Kitano watched as the doctor pointed at the screen.

"A number of cross sections are different from a human's hair," she summed up. As Etsuko spoke, the wheels in Kitano's head started to turn.

"How long would it take to extract from the hairs to create a way to subdue our pets?" he asked aloud. The doctor turned her head.

"That would depend on how much we're going to make and how many we want to subdue," she said. Kitano did some thinking.

"Let's try one for now," he said.

"Will we need more hairs?"

"We might."

Etsuko rose to her feet. "I'll go prepare the lab and get to work." Suddenly, her cell phone buzzed in her coat pocket.

"Excuse me," she said. The doctor pulled out her phone. She smiled when she went to her text messages.

"Looks like the girls found the next gate," Etsuko said.

"Excellent," Kitano said. "Where?" She handed him her phone. The therapist whistled when he saw the picture attachment.

"Oh!" he said.

"This is going to be entertaining now," the doctor said.

* * *

-Nanami and Keiichi-

Nanami had just gotten out of the bath when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Nanami-san?" a young man's voice asked on the other line.

"Hello, Keiichi," the teacher said.

"Hi. I'm just calling to check on you."

Nanami raised her eyebrow. "Did Celty-san tell you to do this?"

"No…"

"Keiichi?"

He nervously laughed over the phone. "Sort of."

The teacher sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "You're still not good at comforting a woman, are you?"

"I'm trying. Celty is helping me out."

"I'm still struggling. Thanks for calling."

"I think I might found an interesting tip this morning."

Nanami perked up. "What did you find?"

"I had just gotten up for the morning when someone knocked on my door. When I answered the door, no one was there, but I found a package addressed to me from Arisu," Keiichi said. Her stomach dropped at his upbeat tone.

"Are you sure it's from her?" she asked.

"I'm sure of it!" he said.

"It could be a trap."

"I don't think so. There was a note attached to it. Hang on." Nanami could hear the rustling of plastic and paper on the other line.

"Here it is," Keiichi said. "To Keiichi-kun in the event that something were to happen to me. Please finished what I started. Arisu."

"That does sound like her," Nanami said. "Was there anything else?"

"No, just this key at the bottom of the package," he said. "I know where this goes."

"Where?" the teacher asked.

"There is a storage building on campus," Keiichi said. "Some of the students keep valuable things there. It's not cheap, though. The fees can really pile up on you if you aren't careful."

"What does it all mean?" Nanami asked. "Why would Arisu-chan send you a key?"

"I think, and now go with me on this," he said. "She must have left some important things for me.  _Real_  important things." The teacher picked up on how he said "important things".

"Are you alone right now?" she asked.

"Of course," Keiichi said. "Shirley's asleep in my bed. I just checked five minutes ago."

"Are you going to look in that storage place?"

"I have to. I promised Sora-kun that I would bring his mom home at all costs."

"Please be careful."

"I will. Just like I will call you tomorrow," Keiichi said. Nanami stared at her phone after he hung up. Just like Jiro's words, they weren't really encouraging, but they would have to do for now.

* * *

-Interns-

-Sunday, 7:00 a.m.-

Yuka looked at her cell phone. Cutie Aphrodite went through successfully. She had to admit that Chirin had become so much handsomer over the past week and a half. Seeing his face tempted her to cross the ethical line. Yayoi couldn't stop talking about all of the naughty things she wanted to do to his body. The whole time, Anna gloated as she worked on her latest formula.

"Pretty good work, huh?" she asked yesterday.

"Yes, yes," Yuka said. "Will you shut up about it?" Her colleague leaned forward with a huge grin on her face.

"Nope!" she said. "This is my first baby. The first of many more to come." The former orderly rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she mumbled. "Why exactly did you have to make them that hot? That's something I would expect out of that slut, Yayoi. Then again, I didn't expect her to know much about chemistry either." Anna giggled as there was a gleam in her glasses.

"The world will be ending soon, yes?" she asked.

"As Kitano-sensei and the others say," Yuka answered.

"Well, why not let the tadpoles get some bedroom action before the new world comes?" Anna asked with a shrug. Her colleague gave her a strange look.

"New world?" she asked.

"Why not?" the other intern asked. "It's possible. But alas, we'll never get to see it. I'm almost jealous of those tadpoles now that I think about it. Still, these experiments to make them perfect seem like a fair trade to me." Yuka narrowed her eyes at her.

"You are weird, you know?" she asked.

"I get that a lot," Anna said, leaning back in her chair.

Today, Yuka looked up when she heard knocking on the lab door.

"They're here now, sensei," Yuka said over the microphone.

"I'll let them in," Kitano said. His intern looked up as the doors slid open. The rest of the interns walked inside. Yuka clapped her hands together.

"Welcome!" she said. The intern did a quick head count of everyone in the lab. She instantly perked up.

"Great, now that we're all here, who's up next?" Yuka asked. Yuzuru stepped forward.

"I believe I am," she said. Yuka pulled out the tape recorder and hit record. Behind the glass, her boss counted down before he could speak.

"You may begin the experiment," Kitano said over his microphone.

"Good morning, everyone," Yuka said. "My name is Ogawa Yuka and I will be conducting the second addition of the augmentations to the test subjects." She waited for a brief moment before resuming.

"Last time Konoe-san gave us her drug," she said. "Who's next?" Yuzuru raised her hand.

"I am," she said in her usual monotone voice.

"What do you have for us today?" Yuka asked. Her colleague pushed up her glasses and handed her the glass container. Her colleague looked inside.

"What is this?" she asked as she looked at the round deep indigo pills inside.

"I have named them Athena," Yuzuru spoke up.

"Okay," her fellow intern said. "Our second drug that will be administered into the augmentation experiment has been given to us by Marusa Yuzuru whom has named her drug Athena." Yuka twisted the plastic container open. Everyone watched as each little flower was fed an indigo pill. Yuka stepped back when the last flower closes.

"And now, we wait," she said. The Heartseed glowed a bright indigo. It was all Anna could do to keep from squealing aloud.


	13. Yuzuru

Halo Twelve: Yuzuru:

She doesn't talk much about herself. Her coworkers can't figure her out. Marusa Yuzuru sat in the back of the lab, watching the other interns. Her face almost always never gave away any emotion. They never know what she is thinking. Yui has tried several times to start conversations with her when they are locating the Gates to the Apocalypse.

"So, what do you like to do for fun?" she asked her just before they went into Ikebukuro Station.

"Reading," Yuzuru said.

"Ooo, what kind of books?" Yui asked.

"Just books," the other intern said. She walked ahead of her colleague. The other intern stared blankly at her back.

"Okay then…" she said. Yui followed behind with her arms behind her head. Yuzuru only seemed to exist for work. She had the same mindset back when she was working at Chou Mori as an orderly.

Anna turned and looked over at Yuzuru as the Heartseed glowed bright indigo.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah," Yuzuru murmured. Anna nudged her in the side.

"Come on!" she said. "Be proud of your work!"

"I am," the other intern said. Yuzuru pushed up her red-framed glasses and walked out of the room. Anna and the other interns watched as the door closed behind her.

"What's with her?" she asked.

"She's always been like that," Roc said in the back corner. Anna turned her head.

"Huh?" she asked. The tall dark-haired intern eyed her.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "You didn't work with us at Chou Mori back in the day."

"She barely spoke to anyone then and she still doesn't talk much now," Yayoi added.

"You're just in the Self-Dense force," Roc added. "You have not seen the combat! Shiga, Marusa, Ogawa, Iseki, and myself were in the actually army! We were in Iwo Jima!"

"We actually saw all the dead bodies and the blood," Akihito said.

"Did you just compare working in Chou Mori to the military?" Yuka asked.

"It fits," Roc said.

"Excuse me!" Kitano said over his microphone. "If you have this much time to stand around talking, get back to work!"

"Yes, sir!" the interns said. They all hurried back to their assigned labs for the day. Meanwhile, Yuzuru got started on her own work.

* * *

-Tadpoles-

Emily awoke with a pounding headache. She groaned as she held her head.

"What's happening to me?" the tadpole cried. Emily winced as she huddled into a ball in her bed.

"Are you okay, Emily-sama?" Taiyou asked across the room.

"No!" she cried. The girl took in heavier breaths. Suddenly, she lowered her hands. She turned to her spirit guardian familiar.

"Taiyou-san," Emily said. "My head… It feels so much lighter." Her small body began to tremble under the sheets.

"They did something to me again, didn't they?" the tadpole girl asked. "You can feel it too, right?"

"Yes," Taiyou said.

" _So it's not just me?_ "

Emily looked around the room. " _Midori-san?_ "

" _Do forgive me. I still am getting used to this telepathic thing._ "

" _Is this another experiment by them?_ "

" _Yes. It's so strange too. I was heading for my morning cram school classes when I saw three boys trying to solve a rubix cube. One of them offered me to try. So, I do. I ended up solving it in ten seconds._ "

" _Had you ever solved before?_ "

" _No. And I knew all the answers to all of the questions in my morning classes today too._ "

" _I see._ "

" _My head feels so clear too. I can feel all of the cells changing in my body. This has never happened before._ "

" _Do you think the others felt it too?_ "

" _I don't know yet. We'll have to tell them right away._ "

"Emily-chan, are you up yet?" Emily heard from downstairs.

"Uh… yes, mom!" she said. "Hang on!" Emily jumped out of bed.

" _We'll talk later,_ " Midori said.

" _Okay,_ " the younger tadpole said. Emily walked over to her closet to pick out something to wear. She paused and looked down at her hands.

"Taiyou-san," the tadpole girl said. "Could you please go into the hallway while I change clothes?" The spirit guardian familiar rose to his feet.

"Yes, Emily-sama," he said. She didn't move until he left the room. Emily breathed in and picked out her favorite dress.

* * *

-Yuzuru-

When she was younger, she grew up isolated. Yuzuru lived with her grandmother from the time she was a baby. Her mother worked aboard while her father wasn't in the picture. She didn't interact with either parent through the early years of her childhood. The little girl didn't mind it. Her grandmother had plenty of books in her house. During the summer, they would spend the whole day reading. Sometimes, grandma would read aloud to the child. She enjoyed Yuzuru getting lost in the many fictional worlds they travel together one page at a time. One room was just filled with nothing but books. Every morning, the old lady would go out buy more along with the groceries, things for the home, and child needs. Yuzuru couldn't wait to see what book her grandmother would bring home.

Now, grandma's house was in the middle of nowhere in the countryside. Not many kids came out to Nagiso. Why would they? There wasn't much to do anyway. Yuzuru didn't mind it. She was happy with her books and grandmother.

By age ten, her mother came back from overseas and decided to change the dynamic. It started with trying to make her daughter more sociable.

"Mom, this is not healthy for a child her age to live like this," Yuzuru's mother tried to reason with the grandmother.

"She talks to the other children in school," the old lady said. "Yuzuru-chan has the other villagers and me to keep her company."

"That isn't enough. She needs to interact with more children her age."

"And you think uprooting her to the city will do her any better?"

"You can come with us. Bring your books too."

The grandmother folded her arms across her chest. "I am not leaving my home and you will not take Yuzuru away from the only place that she's grown up in!"

"Mom, don't do this! I do not want to have to sue custody of my own daughter."

"You will do no such thing! Yuzuru-chan is staying here!"

The whole time, the little girl hid in the hallway, listening. She held her hands to her chest.  _Am I going to be taken away from grandma?_  Yuzuru had been so used to how things were. She didn't even want to hug her mother when she first came to the house.

"Do you know who I am?" her mom asked.

"Yes," the little girl said in a quiet tone. She would even look her in the eyes.

"Do I scare you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know you."

"Well, I want to know you." The light died from her face when her daughter stepped backwards. Her mother wanted to be in the child's life now. The grandmother didn't think this would work. In the end, Yuzuru lived with her for most of the year and went to stay with her mother during the summer. This arrangement worked, for a while.

* * *

-Tadpoles-

Around noon, the tadpoles gathered at Shinra and Celty's apartment. Shingen held out his tablet.

"As you all know," he said. "You all are evolving again. We have been keeping track of all of your progress so far." Tetsu gave him a strange look.

"You're kidding…" he said.

"We have to keep tabs on your growth," Emilia said.

"Why?" the fire tadpole asked.

"Is that a problem?" Shingen asked, glaring behind his gas mask. Taichi touched his boyfriend on the shoulder. Tetsu was quick to close his mouth.

"Right," the older doctor said. "We will begin the test." Tetsu glared at Shingen like he wanted to kill him. And so the tests began. First came the IQ test. Nothing too difficult, mostly college level. Shingen gave the tadpoles about two hours to complete it. Ten minutes later, the test subjects sat around looking bored.

"You're finished already?" Shingen asked.

"Yes," the tadpoles said. Emilia had already collected the tests and started grading them.

"Okay," her husband said. "Onto the next test." Next came the rubix cube test. All of them solved it in under ten seconds. Shingen and Emilia read the tadpoles through two more intelligence tests. The couple looked over their results together.

"It's just as I thought," Shingen said. "Can you all feel your bodies changing?"

"Yes," Nami said.

"What does Tandeki plan to do with us with all of these experiments?" Mikado asked. "Turn us into gods?"

"He pretty much is," Emilia said.

"It's like I said before," Shingen added. "You are far from perfect in his eyes. He's trying to make you strong enough to survive the apocalypse." Once again, the tadpoles looked upset to hear this. A collective groan filled the living room.

"When will it end?" Emily asked.

"Not until Kitano is happy, I'm afraid," the older doctor said. "I don't really know what to tell you. We will all monitor how your evolution is going and run tests on you when we see changes." More groans filled the room.

"Why should we trust you guys again?" Tetsu asked. "How can we be sure you won't turn around and use us for your own purposes? We don't even know your true motives!"

"The way I see it," Shingen countered. "You have no choice but to trust us at the moment. You have nowhere else to turn to. Do you think you can explain to everyone you know about what you are turning into? And how long did it take you to tell your partner there about your powers or what happened to you in Chou Mori?" Tetsu puffed up his cheeks and turned away. Shingen lowered his hands.

"My thoughts exactly," he said. "We will keep track of your growth and no more keeping anything from us. We will find out any changes to your bodies sooner or later." The tadpoles grimaced. Masaomi pulled Mikado into his arms. Taichi put his arm around Tetsu's shoulders.

_They may hate us for this_ , Shingen thought.  _But they have no choice but to trust us for the moment._  Tetsu glared at the older doctor with such contempt.

* * *

-Yuzuru-

Like Kitano with Yuka, Etsuko was grooming Yuzuru to be her protégée. The doctor first saw the potential back at Cho Mori. Yuzuru tended to the patients like a machine. She didn't flinch at the screaming, attacks, and occasional blood. The orderly was also good with handing out medication.

If Kitano was going to recruit orderlies to help them with their secret project, there was no reason that Etsuko couldn't herself.

Yuzuru was finishing up her shift on an early November night. The orderly thought she was going to go home for the night. She was at the book about to sign out when she heard someone call her name.

"Marusa-san," someone said. Yuzuru looked up to see Etsuko peeking around the corner at her. The volunteer doctor motioned her over. The orderly pointed to the bridge of her nose with a dull expression on her face. Etsuko nodded once. Yuzuru walked over to the doctor.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Yes," Etsuko said. "There is something that I wanted to show. Do you have the time?"

"I can take a quick, ma'am," the orderly answered.

"Excellent," the doctor said. "Please follow me." Yuzuru followed the doctor down the hall. Etsuko walked up to Room 27.

"You see," she began. "Kitano-sensei and I are involved in a very special project to treat a handful of patients here. Not all of us doing this, though. Just Kitano-sensei, a small number of orderlies, and myself."

"What exactly do you do?" Yuzuru asked.

"Let me show you," the doctor said. She pushed open the door. Akiko sat on her bed, twitching. Her hair was a mess and she was drooling. Etsuko walked over and patted the patient on the head.

"Shoujo A here has just had a nasty experience with one of the drugs we tested on her," the doctor explained. Akiko's eyes moved upward, glaring. She lunged forward, but her body moved like wet noodles. Etsuko held her down with one hand.

"Shoujo A will need her medicine to fix her right up," she said. "How good are you with injecting needles?" The doctor's eyes trailed over to the syringe on a silver tray on the tray next to the bed. Yuzuru didn't say a word. She picked up the needle and picked up Akiko by the arm. It didn't take her long to find a vein. The mental patient's body tense up at the sharp point went into her skinny arm and then she went limp. Yuzuru pulled the needle out. Etsuko watched closely as the whole process took place.

"How did I do?" Yuzuru asked. Etsuko let down of the limp girl.

"You did great," she said. "We will see you tomorrow for the next project."

"Thank you, Asato-sensei," the orderly said, bowing. "Good night." She may have left for home that night, but she would keep coming back to the same project up to today.

* * *

-Kitano-

Five days later, Kitano's phone buzzed. He smirked when he read the message.

"Etsuko, come look at this," he said. He handed the phone over to the doctor. She read the text for herself.

"Ah, the next gate's been found," Etsuko said.

"Yes," Kitano said. "And now, it's time we raise the stakes in the game."


	14. Thursday

Halo Thirteen: Thursday:

Within twenty-four hours, Ikebukuro would be pushed further into the Apocalypse.

-6:00-

Yuzuru and Yui waited outside of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. Yuzuru's small crystal floated in midair on the black string. Yui whistled.

"Here?" she asked.

"Yes," her partner said.

"Wow, this is the enemy territory," Yui said. "This is going to take balls."

"Is Hecate-san on her way?" the intern asked. Her partner pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.

"She should be here… right about… now," she said. An uncharacteristically cool air blew past the interns. They looked up to see Hecate standing before them. Her silver scarf swallowed up her neck. Yui smiled as she held out her arms.

"Welcome, welcome!" she said. "We're so glad you could make it." Hecate looked at the building behind the gate.

"This is the place?" she asked.

"Yes," the human interns said. Hecate looked at the building again and pursed her lips together.

"Ooo," she said. "This gate looks like it's more than I can handle myself." Yui's face dropped.

"But..." she said. Hecate put up her hand.

"Which is why I called in some back-up for this one," she continued. "Meet my little sister, Lucy." A slender girl with long white hair stood next to the dark-haired nightcomer. Her short black dress made her skin look much paler.

"Sup?" she asked.

"Do you know us to stay with you or anything?" Yui asked. "I mean, we can call our bosses and explain everything..."

"That won't be necessary," Hecate cut in. "Lucy and I will take it from here."

"We'll leave everything in your hands," Yuzuru said, bowing her head.

"Thank you," Hecate said. The interns headed back to Rampo Biotech as Hecate and Lucy turned invisible.

-7:00-

Ikebukuro began waking up for the morning. The children left for school with their orange paper lanterns. Their parents silently prayed that their children wouldn't get spirited away or end up dead. More and more of them started to take their words seriously.

Meanwhile, Kitano sat in a lab, brooding. He stared at a 3-D image of a beating heart.

"Most unfortunate," he muttered. The therapist turned when he heard the door open.

"Oh, good morning," he said. Etsuko took one look at the beating heart on the monitor.

"Staring at that image again?" she asked. Kitano frowned at the graphic pumping imaginary blood through an invisible body.

"We are looking at our pets' Achilles heel," he said. "If the heart gets destroyed in any way, they will die. He turned to his partner.

"In a way, I am glad that our interns are the ones handling the augmentations this go around," the psychiatrist admitted.

"Why is that?" the doctor asked.

"It frees us up to work on problems like this," Kitano said. "Take for example the reasoning why Celty could neutralize our pets' powers. We were able to form a countermeasure to subdue our pets if we ever need to capture them again. We couldn't do that before with just you and I working on the augmentations."

"What do you purpose we do?" Etsuko asked.

"We will study a sample of the heart tissue we have from Azusa to get some of an answer," Kitano said. "In the meantime, we must be ready because the fourth gate will be opened today."

"Understood," Etsuko said. Kitano tilted his head as he stared at the pounding heart graphic on the screen.

-8:00-

By now, the work day began. Salarymen and office ladies hurry into the trains for work. Somebody is always watching them. Maybe it's Henshuubyou flying around in the sky. Maybe it's the other demons that feed off of negativity. Possibly the bakeneko. Or maybe something more sinister...

Saki had this feeling for quite some time now. She had dreaming of seeing herself being covered by a sheet before being loaded into the silent ambulance parked outside. She seemed to be floating away in these dreams. Sometimes, Saki could see the blood. Part of her hoped it was a nightmare, but she wasn't so sure anymore.

Masaomi called her every day just to see if she was still alive. He wouldn't tell her what was wrong. This morning, the boy called her again.

"Hello?" Saki asked.

"Saki?" Masaomi asked on the other line. "Oh, thank goodness. You're still alive."

"Of course I am," she said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh... No reason," he said. Saki frowned as she looked out the window.

"There is something you aren't telling me," she said. "What is the matter?" She listened as he struggled to answer. Saki pressed her hand to her forehead.

"I have something to tell you," she said.

"What?" Masaomi asked. Saki dropped her hand.

"I think I am going to die soon," she said. Her boyfriend went quiet on the other end of the line.

"Don't say that..." Masaomi said in a low voice. Saki smiled and shook her head.

"It probably won't happen," she said. "It might be even nothing."

"No!" Masaomi cried. "I won't let you die!" She had to hold the phone away from her ear.

"Masaomi-kun," she said. "Why are you being like this? Did something happen?"

"I'm sorry," her boyfriend said. "I've been having a hard time lately." Saki smiled to herself.

"It's okay," she said. "I will stay safe."

"Do you promise?"

Saki sighed. "I promise."

"Okay. I'll call you tonight. I love you."

"I love you too." When she hung up, his panic told Saki that those weren't just dreams anymore. She looked out the window again as that feeling of dread spread throughout her body. The girl tightly shut her eyes.

_I'm so sorry, Masaomi-kun. I just can't tell you the whole truth. Not yet._  Saki held her hand to her chest. She only hoped that she could at least survive today just like she had been so far. The worst part was not knowing exactly when or how she would die.

-9:00-

Hecate and Lucy stand outside Yagiri Pharmaceuticals, waiting. It is not time to open the gate. For now, they stand guard. Lucy can't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Hecate asked, glaring. Her sister smiled and shook her head.

"Nothing," Lucy said. "We're just outside enemy territory. She looked up at the iron gates, smiling.

* * *

The interns already started on the new drugs for the next augmentations. Anna basked in the success of Cutie Aphrodite. She felt like dancing when the tadpoles became the object of everyone's affection. It was then the intern realized something else.

"I have to start on the next drug," Anna said to herself. She told herself it didn't have to be the Tadpole Project. She just had to keep making drugs. Meanwhile, Yayoi walked in with a huge grin on her face.

"Good morning, everyone," she said. Yuka rolled her eyes.

"Do you have your drug today?" she asked.

"I sure do," she said. "Is the Heartseed ready?" Her giant boobs bounced as she hopped up and down for a bit. Her fellow intern forced herself to stay civil.

"Let me check with the boss," Yuka said. She pulled up her cell phone. Yayoi looked at crimson nails as she waited. She frowned when she saw her right index finger.

"Aw, when did that get chipped?" she asked. The intern stared at the imperfection. Yuka hung up her phone.

"He said we can come up now," she said. Yayoi and Anna looked like little balloons ready to fly away.

"Nice!" Yayoi said. The interns all headed up to Room 518.

* * *

Yuka stood by her place next to the Heartseed plant while Kitano and Etsuko sat in a room behind a two-way mirror.

"You may begin the experiment," Kitano said over his microphone.

"Good morning, everyone," Yuka said. "My name is Ogawa Yuka and I will be conducting the third addition of the augmentations to the test subjects." She waited for a brief moment before resuming.

"Last time Marusa-san gave us her drug," she said. "Who's next?" Yayoi stepped forward.

"I am," Yayoi said in a reserved tone of voice.

"What do you have for us today?" Yuka asked. The busty intern stepped forward with her glass container in her hand. Her colleague looked inside.

"What is this?" she asked as she looked at the light purple oval-shaped pills inside.

"I call them Fudo Myo-o," Yayoi explained. "It goes with Yuzuru's Athena drug." Even Yuzuru herself looked intrigued.

"Will still cause an interference?" Yuka asked.

"No," Yayoi said.

"Okay," her fellow intern said. "Our third drug that will be administered into the augmentation experiment has been given to us by Shiga Yayoi whom has named her drug Fudo Myo-o." Yuka twisted the plastic container open. Everyone watched as each little flower was fed a purple pill. Yuka stepped back when the last flower closes.

"And now, we wait," she said. The Heartseed glowed a bright purple.

-10:00-

Nanami has to pretend that everything is still okay while she teaches her students in the class. Despite more memories of being at Red Rabbit surfacing in her head, she knows that she still has her life to live.

Mikado was in the library at his school looking for another book where he had hidden some key information in during a previous time loop. Ever since the Athena drug merged successfully with his cells, his memories started coming back.

"I think I left more notes around the city about how to beat Tandeki," Mikado told Masaomi. The blonde-haired boy nodded as he looked so pale.

"Okay," he said in a trembling voice.

"Did you reach Mikajima-san this morning?" the tadpole boy asked.

"Yes," Masaomi said in a whisper.

"What did she say?" Mikado asked.

Masaomi lowered his eyes as he trembled. Saki's words ran through his head again and again. "I think I am going to die soon." Masaomi grabbed onto his right arm. I won't let that happen! Mikado grabbed him by the arms.

"We won't let her die," he said. Masaomi looked him in the eye. He opened his mouth, the tadpole boy was quick to cut him off.

"I promise," Mikado said in a stern voice.

* * *

Right now, Mikado dug in brain of where one of the books were hiding in the shelves. He tried to pretend not to see the little first-year girl eyeing him and blushing. The tadpole decided to find the book and get out here as fist as he could. But when his fingers touched a spine of a random book, a hard pulse shot through his body. His vision turned black as he collapsed to the floor.

When the first-year girl looked up, she saw Mikado having like a seizure on the floor. Panicked, she raced over and placed her jacket and school bag under his head. She unbuttoned his jacket and stuffed it under his head. As the student called 119 on her phone, Mikado saw Ikebukuro in ruins. Four dragons blocked out the sun over the crumbling buildings. Thunder and lightning filled the sky. He tried to scream out for anyone, but he only heard his own echo. There wasn't a single soul in the streets. When the tadpole boy looked around, black shadows walked by with their heads lowered. He reached out to one of them, but his hand went through the shoulder. Mikado drew back his hand when he felt a tingling sensation on the back of his hand.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whistle rang through his ears. When the tadpole boy turned around. A woman in a long red dress floated in the cloud-filled sky. Her long black hair floated in the cold breeze. The blood on her arms matched the color of her eyes. Mikado didn't get time to figure out what was going on.

She laughed over the dying city. Her reaction alone told him everything he needed to know. The devilish Woman in Red was free to roam the earth again. Mikado couldn't see anything else. There was only fire. And then…

Nothing.

" _He's regaining consciousness!_ "

When he came to, Mikado found himself in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. One EMT shined a light in his eyes. Masaomi was saying something him, but he could barely hear him. The tadpole boy had blood coming out of his nose and mouth.

* * *

Michiko stared at her phone. Finally, it buzzed in her hand. Her heart jumped as she opened the message.

"Fourth Gate of Light found," the text read. Michiko began typing.

"Where? Give me the directions!" It didn't take long for her to get a reply. The girl rose to her feet.

"Right," Michiko said to herself. The young girl walked out of the apartment as fast as she could.

-11:00-

Three more tadpoles enter the frame.

-Madoka-

I have to wear my glasses. No, my eye sight is good. Too good.

I too was a mental patient at Chou Mori Institution. No thanks to them, my eyesight is too powerful. I can see  _everything_. When my powers first "awoke", they were so strong that it knocked me out. When I came to, my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Good afternoon, Shoujo Ma," that horrible voice said. That alone was enough to trigger my memories of being in that hell in Chou Mori. Kitano-sensei told me about my awakening and what I was now. My eyes widened as I shook my head.

"No…" I murmured.

"Yes, my dear Shoujo Ma," he said. "It amazes that your generation took this long to finally awaken. I guess we did improve with Chirin's generation."

"Chirin?" I asked.

"You will meet your little brother and his generation really soon," Kitano-sensei said.

"But I'm an only child," I said.

"We'll talk later," he said. Kitano-sensei hung up before I could say a word.

Ever since then, I have been wearing my old glasses to limit my powers. My male coworkers think they are cute as they hit on me tirelessly. There are prettier girls around the office, what do they see in me? Then again, it's not their fault. I am "evolving" as the "Death Professor" keeps reminding me. (If I have to hear his voice again, I will go crazy.) But then, I ran into another problem.

My eyes are starting to hurt more behind my glasses. I'm worried that I might end up going blind. The pain only goes away when I take off my glasses. But, I don't want to have to see every single thing all of the time. This man named Orihara Izaya taunted me through texts about it. Hold on, let me get out my phone.

"Glasses don't look good on you."

"You're only making it worse for yourself, you know?"

"If you don't take the glasses off, you'll go blind. That won't be good for you, now would it?"

As hard as I tried to ignore him, I finally broke down and took my glasses off today. It felt like a breath of fresh air, but already I began to see every little detail around me. As I predicted, my phone buzzed. Against my better judgement, I pulled it out and opened Izaya's latest text.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

My hand shook around my phone as I squeezed the life out of it. How was he doing that? I began looking around the busy streets as I headed down for an early lunch.  _Come on, you bastard! You know that I can see where you're hiding. Why don't you just come out? I just want to talk to you. Okay, make smack you down, but come out anyway._

A sharp whistle shot through my ears. I winced as my head began to ache. The whistle lingered around me, but I also saw flashes of the city burning around me.

_Make it stop! Make it stop!_

Suddenly, I froze with a chill running down my spine. Huh? Who's watching me now? I turned to see a woman with a dark brown braid on the right side of her head, staring at me from across the street. She stared at me intently as her voice filled my head.

_Can you hear me?_

I nearly tripped and fell backwards.  _Who are you?!_

_Don't be afraid. My name is Amano Midori. I'll come over there to you and you can come with me. I want to help you._

_But why?_

_Because, you're like me._

My jaw dropped as I stepped backwards.

* * *

-Anzu-

I've been on edge all morning.

I kept getting vision of this city on fire. It flashes in my brain, causing me pain. And just when I had just figured everything out. I can feel my blood bubbling in my body, waiting to be used again. I grabbed my wrist. It's been quiet all morning, too quiet.

"Oshima-san?" someone asked. I turned to see my kouhai running up to me.

"Oh," I said. "Hello, Maiko." The petite girl looked at me with her big brown eyes. She's not cut out to be a fighter, but that's why she's in this class.

Maiko tilted her head. "Is something wrong, senpai?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Nothing," I said. "Yet."

"Huh?" Maiko asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I lied again. She doesn't need to know all of my secrets. I don't even know how my kouhai would take knowing what all I can do with my blood. She's already trying her hardest to be brave. A tadpole person who can hear thoughts and increases someone's desires would drive her away. Maiko-chan looks up to me so much too.

I was about to bit up my bamboo sword when I paused.

"Who's there?" I asked. I looked around the locker room. I do not trust things when I am not alone if you haven't picked up on that by now. I gritted my teeth.

"Enough with the games!" I hissed. "Come out and say something. Are you watching me?!"

" _I am,_ " a voice said in my head. I jumped and looked around.

"Who was that?!" I shouted. "Where are you?!"

" _I'm sorry,_ " the voice said in my head. " _I just want to help you._ "

"But who are you?" I asked.

" _My name is Kimio Kohaku,_ " the voice said. " _Are you Oshima Anzu?_ " I drew my mouth closed.

" _Yes. Why do you ask?_ "

" _Are you starting to having visions?_ "

I lowered my eyes. " _Yeah._ "

" _What did you see?_ "

I looked down at my hands. I began to remember the city being engulfed in fire. " _Where are you, Kohaku-chan?_ "

" _I'm in my class right now._ "

I pressed my lips together. " _Uh... Can we meet up somewhere?_ "

" _Yes._ "

My eyes shifted back and forth. " _Alright. Let's meet in West Ikebukuro Park._ "

" _Okay._ "

" _I'll text you the location,_ " I said.

" _Thank you,_ " Kohaku said. I leaned against the wall, panting. I put my hand to my forehead. Will I have enough strength to participate in this kendo class today?

* * *

-Sota-

I hate when it is quiet.

I awoke in the nurse's office and looked around. There's nobody in here. My eyes shifted back and forth from under the sheets. The school nurse looked down at me with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her tone almost shocked me. Usually, she would get mad at me for trying to cut class to hang out with her. (If you saw this woman with her nice tits and curves, you would do the same thing.)

"Yeah…" I said, rubbing the back of my head and chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry if I upset you, sensei." That hot nurse snorted.

"Well, that's a first!" she said. And there she is, the sneering, overbearing woman that seems to hate my guts. However, my mind wandered back to how I ended up here in the first place.

I had planned to come by the nurse's office today anyway. Just, not like this. I was in the middle of another boring math class flashed in my eyes. My whole body as I fell back from my desk. I broke down in a seizure-like trance as I started to see strange visions.

I floated above as I saw Ikebukuro burning. I couldn't hear anything. No screaming. No cries for help. I couldn't even hear the fire burning. But, I felt something or someone breathing on the back of my neck. Against my better judgement, I turned around. Black, soulless eyes stared back at me. I struggled to get away, but I couldn't move. Those eyes looked like they wanted to murder me.

_No! No!_

Those eyes opened their blood-filled mouth. I tightly shut my eyes.

That's when I woke up in the nurse's office. I rubbed my forehead. What just happened back there? Am I going crazy?

" _No, you're not,_ " some guy's voice said in my head. I quickly looked around.

"Uh… is there someone else in here besides us?" I asked the nurse.

"No," she said.

"Uh-huh…" I said.

" _Stay calm,_ " the guy said in my head. " _Stay calm. Please stay calm._ " Oh right, like I'm going to listen some guy who's just randomly talking in my head for no reason.

" _Talk to me with your head,_ " the voice said. " _If you aren't alone, you will look crazy talking to nobody there._ " I pressed my lips together.

" _Okay, I'm talking to you in my head right now,_ " I said at last. " _Who are you and what do you want from me?_ "

" _Good, where are you now?_ "

" _Nurse's office._ "

" _You will need to get out of there so we can talk. I get the feeling what I'm going to say to you will come as too much of a shock for you to handle if you stay._ "

I looked at the nurse looking at me with her eyebrow raised.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked. I didn't trust this guy talking to me in my head, but anything to get him to stop…

"Uh… yeah," I said. "I'm going to go back to class now." The nurse her hands on her hips.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Aw, why does she have to choose today to be all concerned about me now? I rubbed the back of my head.

"I'll be fine, really," I said. "I will see you again tomorrow, though." I leapt out of bed and hurried down the hall before she could say a word. Once I got further down the hall, I stopped.

" _Okay, who the hell are you? How are you talking to me in my head right now? What's going on here?_ " I asked.

" _Oh,_ " that guy said. " _My name is Aso Tetsu and I just want to help you here._ "

" _Why?_ "

" _You've been seeing visions of this city on fire, haven't you?_ "

I froze as me pounded against my chest. " _H-H-How did do you know?_ "

" _We're starting to see them too._ "

" _Wait… We? You mean there are others like us?_ "

" _Yes._ "

I sank to my knees as I started breathing heavily.

" _I will come by and meet you at your school, okay?_ " Tetsu asked in my mind. His words sounded so far away.

-12:00-

By noon, the Ikebukuro heads out to lunch. The school kids to go the cafeteria or have their bento. Salarymen and office ladies do the same with the restaurants. Meanwhile, Hecate and Lucy were still waiting. The younger nightcomer put up her hand.

"Not yet," her sister was quick to say. Lucy lowered her hand, but gritted her teeth.

* * *

While Satoru walked the streets looking for his sister, Niko, Mikado lay in the hospital, sound asleep.

But, he wasn't alone.

" _Hello?_ " a woman's voice asked. " _Can you hear me? Mikado-kun? Mikado-kun?_ " The tadpole opened his eyes. Crowds of shadows stood over his bed. He couldn't see their faces. But he could hear their voices.

"He's awake now."

"Do you think he can see us?" A shadowy hand waved itself in front of the boy's face. Mikado tried to swat away the hand. His eyes shifted left and right.

"Who are you people?!" the tadpole asked. "What do you want from me?!" Glowing eyes looked down at him. One face leaned down towards him.

"Relax, it's only us," a woman's voice said. Fingertips caressed his right cheek. Mikado tried to push away the hand.

"Stop!" he cried. "Please don't kill me!"

"Kill you?" a man's voice asked. "We aren't here to kill you. We just want to talk to you." The tadpole boy blinked.

"Talk to… me?" he asked.

"Yes," the woman's voice said. Her white teeth glowed in her shadow guise. Mikado could see the shape of foxlike eyes and a bushy tail. The shadow-like figure looked behind her at the other shadows.

"Can I show myself to him now?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," another man's voice said.

"Okay," she said. The shadow-like figured closed her glowing eyes. The black wispy clouds disappeared from her body. Mikado sat up and saw a cute wolf girl sitting on the bed next to him. Bits and pieces of her came back from his lost memories. Her brown eyes portraying gentle warmth that could calm down a man in panic. Her long grey hair matching her bushy tail. He remembered her short black dress, tan blazer, and a black choker collar. Mikado blinked.

"Uzuki… -san?" he asked. The wolf girl felt like squealing and dancing about.

"You remember me!" she said. Mikado had a confused look on his face.

"Wait," he said. "Why are you here? Am I out of my body again?" Uzuki gently put her finger to his lips.

"No," she said in a whisper. "You're just asleep right now. We're inside your dreams for the time being."

"We don't have much time," another woman's voice said. "You're going to wake up soon. So, we're going to make this quick. You and the others are in danger. The fourth gate will be opened tonight."

"What do you mean?" Mikado asked. "What fourth gate?" The shadows looked like they were fading away.

"No, come back! What fourth gate are you talking about?" the tadpole boy asked.

* * *

"Mikado! Mikado!" someone yelled in real life. The tadpole boy awoke to Masaomi sitting by his bed.

"You okay, man?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mikado said in a low voice. He wasn't sure if he should tell his best friend about the visitors he saw in his dreams or not yet. The tadpole boy clutched the sheets underneath him.

"Listen," Mikado said. "I think the city is in danger."

"What do you mean?" the blonde boy asked. His friend was about to explain when he paused. Mikado looked towards the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. The little first-year girl who called the ambulance poked her head inside.

"I'm so sorry!" she shouted, bowing. "I was watching you in the library. I panicked when you had a seizure. But, my parents are doctors, so I knew to rest your head on something stable while I called 119. I only came by just to check on you."

"What are you doing out of class?" Mikado asked.

"Oh," the girl said. "My parents work in this hospital. I convinced them to let me come here just so I could see how you were doing." The boys looked at each other. Cutie Aphrodite was at work.

_Damn it_ , Mikado thought.  _But, maybe I could use this to my advantage._

"Thank you for that, you're sweet, uh…" he spoke up. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite check your name." The first-year girl blushed as she bowed.

"Oh, my name's Mami!" she said.

"I see," Mikado said. "Listen, Mami-chan. I really need to get out of here and track down so of my friends. Could you help me get checked out?"

"O-O-Of course!" the freshman girl yelped. "I'll go talk to dad right away." Mami turned and raced down the hall.

"That really worked," Mikado said to himself. He still couldn't rest until he warned Masaomi and the other tadpoles. The boy turned back to his friend.

"Kida-kun, listen to me," Mikado began again. "Ikebukuro is in danger."

* * *

-13:00-

Back at school, the tadpoles weren't the only ones having strange visions.

Chiharu was in the middle of a quiz at her desk when a sharp pain struck her head. She kept hearing a high-pitched whistle in her ears as her vision began to blur. Too many images flashed in her head to keep up.

_What… is this?_

Meanwhile, Junko stood in the hallway watching her. She counted down to the moment she would get to be more active on the Angel Project. To really kick things off on her end she would need F again. She could almost reach out and touch her now.

Junko looked down when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Nakahara-sensei, I'm going to need you to do a little favor for me," Kitano said on the other line.

"Okay, what is it?" the nurse asked.

"I will need you to separate Kida-kun from Chirin when school is over," the therapist said. "I have a feeling that Chirin could be getting close to our plan to open the fourth gate. Today is a big day and we can't have any hitches to unravel us. Can you do that for me?" Junko's lips curved into a big smile.

"Gladly," she said. "I'm on it."

"Good, I knew I could depend on you," Kitano said. Junko hung up, smirking. She tapped the screen on her phone and headed straight for her favorite app.

"We will always know where you are, boys," Junko muttered. She stared at the little yellow dots on her screen.

-14:00-

Keiichi was on his break in between classes. He did some quick match in his head. Let's see. His last class of the day would be around five. The on-campus storage building would close at six. He clinched the key in his pocket.

Keiichi nodded to himself.

"Right," he said. Last time he checked, Shirley was still in class. He warned her to be careful today.

"Do not answer your phone unless it's me calling you," Keiichi told her this morning.

"Even if it's Papa?" Shirley asked.

"Yes," he said. "Only answer if it's me. Don't talk to anybody. Don't even look at anyone. When school gets out, just go straight home to my apartment, okay?"

"Yes," Shirley said nodding. He gave her a quick kiss.

"Please be careful today," Keiichi said.

"I will," she said. "You be careful too."

"Aw, thanks," he said. With that in mind, Keiichi kept his eyes open around him for the whole day. Around two, he had to double down on the caution. The journalist student walked up to the front desk of the storage center.

"Welcome, can I help you with anything?" the clerk behind the desk asked. Keiichi shoved forward the key across the desk.

"I would like access to storage locker 228," he said. The clerk got on her computer and started typing the information.

"That locker is rented out to a Honda Arisu," she said.

"Is there another name on the account?" Keiichi asked.

"Let me see," the clerk said. She scrolled down on the screen. "Ah, yes. Is your name Minami Keiichi?"

"Yes," the journalist student said.

"Follow the numbers down the hall under you get to the 200's," the lady said. "The evens are on the right side."

"Okay, thank you," Keiichi said. He bowed and headed down the hall.

His eyes shifted left and right as he walked with his hands in his pockets. He would have to move quickly in case he was being watched.  _Right, just in get, see what's inside, and get out._  Keiichi picked up his pace when he reached the 200's section. It took minutes for him to locate locker 228. Keiichi took the key and unlocked the small metal box. He reached inside to file a dark purple folder stuffed with papers inside. One quick look inside told him that Arisu had left him the smoking gun. Keiichi stuffed the folder into his bag. He walked up back to the front desk.

"Do I owe you anything?" the journalist student asked the lady behind the desk.

"No, it's been paid for the rest of the semester," she said. "The next payment will be due by fall."

"Thanks again," Keiichi said. He bowed and headed out the door. The journalist student would have to keep his bag close by at all times if he was going to get it home.

-15:00-

By now, the children all head home or cram school. They keep their paper lanterns by their sides as they walk. None of them talk in fear of the demons hearing them. They that the demons are always watching them. Waiting to eat, possess, kill, or spirit them away.

Meanwhile, Hecate and Lucy still waited outside of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. Lucy puffed up her cheeks and pouted. She reached out her hand towards the gate.

"Not yet," Hecate was quick to repeat. Her younger sister did back her hand, sneering.

* * *

The owl statue in the center of the city, Rakuei Gym, and Mitake Shrine. Michiko paced around the entrance of Sunshine60. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at message again.

"Yes," the girl said. "This is the right place, I hope." Michiko looked up when she heard footsteps approaching her. Tiresias stood inches away, leaning on her cane.

"You're late," Michiko said.

"No, I have been here since nine in the morning," the blind woman explained. "It is you who is late." The younger girl shook her head.

"Never mind," she said. "Are you sure this is the right gate?"

"Yes," Tiresias said as she faced the building. Michiko put up her hands.

"Okay, I'll leave you to it," she said.

"Thank you," the blind woman said, bowing. Tiresias reached into her white-blonde hair and pulled out another silvery-blue pin. Her lips murmured a soft cantation and stuck it into the ground. The little pin started to glow. Michiko put her hand to her chest.

"Good," she said. "Do you think those lanterns the children are carrying around the city will keep them safe for long?"

"No," Tiresias said, shaking her head. "There will be stronger demons coming our way. It won't be long before it's not just the children infected."

"What do you think we should do?" Michiko asked.

"If we can locate the twelve scribes, we might have an advantage in ending this game," the blind woman said. Michiko dug in her memories as she tried to think.

"I think I already know where one is," she said.

"Oh?" Tiresias asked. The younger girl nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I know where to find her too." Michiko turned and walked away from the Sunshine60 building. Tiresias followed close behind.

-16:00-

One more hour to go before the work day is over.

Masaomi's phone rang in his apartment back in Mikado's apartment.

"Excuse me," he said. The blonde shogun pulled out his phone. Mikado's stomach dropped as he watched him.

"Hello?" Masaomi asked.

"Masaomi-kun, help me!" a girl's voice cried on the other line. The blonde-haired boy jumped.

"Saki-chan?!" he asked. "Saki-chan, is that you? What's the matter?"

"I'm so scared!" this girl's voice said. "Please help me! I don't want to die!"

"Where are you?!" Masaomi asked. "Saki! Saki!" There was a scream on the other line. And then, the line went dead. The blonde shogun trembled as he stared at his phone. Mikado covered his right eye and saw Masaomi's demon jumping up and down on his shoulder.

"Saki-chan! Saki-chan! Saki-chan!" it screamed. Mikado lowered his hand as his best friend turned to him.

"Saki's in trouble," Masaomi said at last. "What should I do?"

"Go to her," Mikado said. His friend's eyes widened.

"But…" he said.

"I'll be fine," the tadpole said, looking him in the eye. "Mikajima-san needs you more." Masaomi hesitated at first. Instinct told him to stay by Mikado's side, but he had been so worried about Saki being murdered without him trying to save her.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Masaomi asked. "I would feel bad if something happened to you." Mikado calmly shook his head.

"No," he said. "I don't want to be a burden to you both. I don't think she would be able to handle what I am. And besides, what would happen if she touched me by accident?" Masaomi takes a minute to think about this.

"I guess you're right," he said. "I'll call you once I get there. Don't let anyone in unless it is me."

"Okay," Mikado said. "Be very careful."

"I will," Masaomi said. He turned and headed out the door.

* * *

Masaomi made it back to his apartment as fast as he could.

"Saki-chan!" he cried as he pounded on the door. "Saki-chan! Saki-chan! Saki-chan!" The leader of the Yellow Scarves backed up when it opened. To his surprise, Saki stood on the other side, staring at him.

"Masaomi-kun, what are you doing here?" she asked. Her boyfriend stared at her, panting.

"Saki-chan! You're alive!" he said. His girlfriend gave him a blank stare.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Masaomi grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Are you okay?!" he asked. "Tell me, are you okay?!"

"Of course I am," Saki said. "Why wouldn't I be?" The leader of the Yellow Scarves gave her a blank stare.

"I just got a call from you a few minutes ago crying for help," he said. "You said that you were scared. Then you screamed and the line went dead."

"I haven't spoken to you on the phone except for this morning," she said, shaking her head. Masaomi pulled out his phone and showed her the call log. Saki pointed at the screen.

"That's not my number," she said. Masaomi took a look at the screen himself. It donned on him that the number on the call log was off by one.

"Oh…" he said in a quietly voice. His first thought was this was probably the guilt of not being able to stay by Saki's side as well as Mikado's as a bodyguard. But then, another realization came over him.

_Oh crap…_

"Is something wrong?" Saki asked.

"Listen, I have to go back to Mikado's place" Masaomi said. "I'll call you when I get there. Don't open the door for anybody!"

"Masaomi-kun!" his girlfriend yelled as he took off running.

* * *

By the time he made it back to Mikado's apartment, Masaomi's heart sank when he found the door wide open.

"Oh shit!" the blonde boy said. Masaomi raced inside and looked around. The whole apartment looked like it had been ransacked. No sight of Mikado anywhere. Masaomi sank to his knees as he came to a horrifying conclusion between that phone call from the fake Saki and the situation right now.

-17:00-

_So warm…_

"So warm…" Mikado mumbled. He slowly drew his eyes. Pitch darkness surrounded him. This place didn't look like any other location that he had been in before. It didn't take Mikado long to remember what happened to him.

He sat at his computer, waiting for Masaomi to come back. The tadpole boy figured that he would kill some time by checking out how things were going in the Dollars chatroom. Masaomi wouldn't take too long with Saki, right? Something seemed dodgy about that phone call. Mikado's ears picked up a slight clicking noise in the audio before the call was disconnected. The boy didn't think about it until now.

_I don't like this._

Mikado paused. One… Two… Three… Four pairs of footsteps down the road. They paused and then become one pair. The tadpole held his breath as the footsteps approached his door. As he predicted, there came a knock.

"Who is it?" Mikado asked.

"There's been an accident down the road!" a girl's voice shouted. "My cell phone is dead and my boyfriend didn't have his! Please let me borrow yours!" Mikado looked down at his own phone.

"Uh… my phone's battery is about dead," he lied.

"Please!" the girl screamed. "It's a matter of life and death!"  _I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to save my boyfriend! Please help me!_  Mikado hesitated as he looked at his phone beside of him. The boy took a deep breath.

"Alright," he said. "But I will not let you in. I will hand you the phone through the door, okay?"

"Thank you so much!" the girl said outside his door. Despite his uneasy feeling, Mikado figured that he could do this quickly. Let the girl dial 119 and let her be on her way. Mikado picked up his phone and walked over to the door.

"Here you go," he said as he opened the door a crack. But as soon as Mikado stuck his hand outside, the girl grabbed him by the wrist.

"Let go!" he yelled.

"I've got him!" the girl yelled. "Hurry up and do it!" Mikado managed to push her off, but couldn't close the door in time for two guys to break in and grab him too. There was a struggle in the apartment and then it all went black.

Right now, Mikado found that he was sitting in a chair made of leather-type material, but he couldn't move. But, nothing seemed to be holding him in place. It took his eyes a little bit to adjust to the darkness. He found himself sitting in an abandoned bar. Already, a nagging feeling formed in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, good you're up," that familiar voice spoke up. Mikado froze.

_Don't tell…_

The tadpole turned his head. Kitano sat in the chair opposite of him, inches away. He leaned forward, smirking.

"Good evening, Chirin," he said. Mikado gritted his teeth.

"What did you do to me?" he asked. "Where are we? And why am I here?"

"We have kidnapped you and now you and I are in an abandoned bar in a basement of a building about to be torn down in three months. You are here because I needed you out of the way for the next part of our game," the therapist answered.

"Game?" Mikado asked. "What game?"

"You'll see soon. Oh and don't bother trying to contact the Dollars." Kitano reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Mikado's phone. "We turned it off at your apartment so they can't trace where you are. But, don't worry. I'll turn mine off to make it fair." The therapist reached into his coat again and pulled out his phone. He hit the button on the side, turning it off.

"There," Kitano said. "Also, don't try to call your brothers and sisters. Asato-sensei and I extracted DNA from some of Celty-san's hair and make a special barrier around you. Granted, this just a porotype. I have no idea how long it will hold. Let's just hope that it will be long enough."

"What are you going to do to me?" Mikado asked.

"Nothing tonight," the therapist answered.

"Huh?"

"No, no. We're just going to talk tonight."

"Talk?"

"That's right. But, I cannot let you leave in the next…" Kitano looked at the clock ticking along the back wall.

"Ten hours."

Mikado's eyes widened. "Ten hours?!"

"Think of it like a layover."

"But why?"

"To which one- The layover or the why I'm you can't leave until then?"

"Why are you keeping me here for ten hours?"

"It's like I said, I need you out of the way until then."

"But why?"

"I will tell you a little bit about my motives for this game, again."

* * *

Meanwhile, the day shift came to a close in Ikebukuro. All of the salarymen and office ladies started to head home from their shifts. The day shift stepped aside to welcome the night shift. Satoru still looked for his sister while Masaomi headed for the other tadpoles to ask for help in finding Mikado.

-18:00-

Kanna sat in her living room, trembling. Aya pushed her worse than ever in their last session. Why was she so obsessed with the disturbing visions that she kept having? Kanna found herself unable to sleep anymore. The bottle looked more appealing after each session. And why did that boy with the eyepatch reach out to her last month?

"Honey! Honey! Honey!" a voice shouted back in real life. "Honey!" Kanna jerked her head upwards. A man about thirty-two years old waved his had in front of her face.

"Are you feeling okay, dear?" he asked. Kanna blinked at the man staring at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. The man gave her a puzzled look.

"Did something happen at therapy today?" he asked. Kanna lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Hideki, please!" Kanna shouted. The man, her husband, put up his hands.

"Okay, okay," he said.

"Thank you," she said.

"Mama, papa," a tiny voice said. The parents looked up to see a little boy standing in the living room doorway.

"What is it, Juichi-kun?" Kanna asked.

"Are you and Papa fighting again?" the little boy asked.

"No, mama's just upset at her brain doctor today," Hideki said.

"Oh…" Juichi said in a quiet voice.

"Did you want something, baby?" Kanna asked.

"I need help with my homework," their son said.

"I'll help you," Hideki said. The man got off of the couch and walked over to his son. Kanna smiled as he boys disappeared down the hall. Despite of all the vision and Otomo-sensei pushing her to talk about them, she had her husband and son to look forward to at the end of the day. She was slowly closing her eyes when she heard a knock on her door.

"Hm?" the woman asked. "Who could that be at this hour?" Kanna rose to her feet and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"My name is Michiko," a girl's voice said. "We need to talk to you. This is important." Kanna jumped in her chest. She slowly opened the door. Michiko and Tiresias stood outside of the apartment. The woman inside the apartment didn't feel afraid or suspicious like a normal person would.

"Hello," she said in a low voice.

"Are you seeing visions?" Tiresias asked in a low voice. Kanna lowered her eyes.

"Yes," she said in a quiet voice.

"May we come in and talk?" Michiko asked. Kanna looked inside of her apartment for a few seconds. She lowered her eyes.

"Sure, come inside," the woman said.

"Thank you," Michiko said. She and Tiresias walked into the apartment. Kanna looked behind them before closing the door behind the ladies.

* * *

"I won't tell you how I'm doing this," Kitano said. "But, I will tell you why." He paused for a moment. "But yet, I will have you take a guess. Go on, guess."

Mikado narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't know."

"Go on. Humor me here."

"You want to take over Ikebukuro? You hate this world and mankind? You are just bored? Daddy didn't pay attention to you as a kid? Mommy spoiled you? You were picked on and want to make everyone else feel as helpless as you did? You think the world is going to hell in a handbasket and the apocalypse will kickstart some mythic return to good no-nonsense community values that have been lost?"

Kitano pretended to think about it for a minute. "None of those, actually."

Mikado gave him a strange look. "Then… why?"

The therapist leaned back in his chair. "It amazes that I always have to tell you my stories again and again, Chirin."

"That is not my name."

"But, I don't mind telling you again. After all, we still have about nine more hours before the layover is over."

"My name is not Chirin. It's Mikado."

"Alright, I will tell you again, Chirin."

"My name is not Chirin!"

-19:00-

Mari looked over at Izaya as they lay in her bed.

"Don't you want to go somewhere for a while?" she asked. The information broker glanced over at her.

"Why?" he asked. Mari shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," she lied. "I just figured that it would be maybe nice to get away from Ikebukuro for a while."

"So, you're saying that you want me to take you somewhere?"

"Oh, no! I'm not going! I was asking if you want to go, by yourself."

Izaya lifted his head from the pillow. "Are you insinuating something to me here?"

"No… Okay, maybe."

"You're not ashamed of me, are you?"

"No!"

The information broker turned over onto his stomach. "Then why are you desperation to chase me out of Ikebukuro? You are starting to sound like Shizuo-chan."

Mari sighed. "Are you scared for your life?"

"I wouldn't be in this line of work if I was," Izaya said. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I don't think you know how much danger you are in this time," Mari said under her breath.

"I'm sorry?" he asked. The programmer shook her head and rolled over.

"Just forget it," she said. Mari pulled the sheets over her bare shoulder.

"Okay then…" Izaya said. Mari could already predict what was coming next. Once the fourth gate was opened, the three beggars would arrive and Izaya would be dead. It looked like she would have to turn to her again. But would she remember the promise that she made in the last loop?

* * *

"It all started out with a promise I made to her years ago when I was a child. I will spare you the boring details of my life," Kitano began again. "Although, I think we have plenty of time given the current circumstances." Mikado, his forced audience of one, sneered at him. The therapist pretended not to notice and resumed his story.

"You see, I was born with a serious heart condition that kept me in the hospital from ages two to fifteen. I will cut to the point of this story. When I was eleven, a nurse accidentally gave me the wrong medicine. It is possible that she got my charts mixed up with another patient's in the hospital at the time. I don't really know to be honest with you.

"As the doctors tried to lower my fever and keep me from dying, I awoke in a place called the Land of the Dead. What is the Land of the Dead you ask? Take the aftermath of the bombings Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Kobe and mix them together. The ground was made of mud that was so thick that my little bare feet kept getting in it. The winds carried the howling of tormented wails. There was nothing but empty landscape and dark green fog. The people walking around looked shadowy stick figures acting like moving through the routines of a normal day in rural Japan.

"I walked through this Land of the Dead for hours. I didn't have a destination in mind. I didn't think about escaping or where I wanted to go. I just walked around the place. As I walked, I heard a low moaning noise. I followed a muddy trail down to an open pit covered with wires. Naturally, I had to take a look. A woman with the face of a bull frog dressed in a dark red kimono with claws for nails. She was chained down and breathing profanities. Any normal child would've turned and ran away, but not me. I stood there standing, staring at such a creature with morbid curiosity. She looked up with blood red eyes.

"'What are you looking at?!' this creature yelled. Her voice shook the land around us. I looked at the prison that she was being held in. For some reason, I head this great urge to free her."

"Why?" Mikado asked.

"Just felt like," Kitano said. The tadpole boy gave him a blank stare. The therapist took a minute to dig through his own brain.

"Now, where was I again?" he asked. "Oh yes, I head this great urge to free her. 'You don't look so happy down there,' I said. 'Would you like me to let you out?' The creature's laughter made the land shake up and down.

"'You? Free me? Don't be a foolish child.' I didn't listen as I looked around for the gate.

"'I don't see the door,' I said.

"'There is no door, you foolish child! I cannot be freed the normal way!' she told me.

"'Then how do I free you?' I asked.

"'Why do you want to free me?'

"'Just cause.'

"'Just cause what?'

"'I just want to.'

"'And what do you get out of this?' the creature asked me. I only shrugged at her. Before I knew it, I woke up back in my hospital bed." Kitano rested his chin on his hand.

"Was it a dying fantasy? A drug-induced hallucination? Maybe both. Either way, I felt compelled to fulfill that promise I made in the Land of the Dead all those years ago," he concluded. Mikado stared at him coldly as he remembered hearing this story again.

"You mean to tell me you want to end the world all because you made a promise to some creature while you were dying in a hospital?" he asked.

"Yes," his captor said.

"What is wrong with you?!" Mikado asked.

"What is wrong with us all?" Kitano asked back.

-20:00-

Inouye Shoichi doesn't know how he ended up pulling dragged into the Wasteland as well. He stood in the middle of the street, looking around.

_What just happened?_

Shoichi tried to dig back in his brain to what happened to him just hours earlier. He was having dinner with his fiancée, Tomoe, at the time. Today had been normal for the most part. Shoichi got up, went to his IT job, talked with is coworkers, came home, and had dinner with Tomoe. She was in the middle of a funny story about what happened at her job today when he froze as if in a trance.

"Babe?" Tomoe asked. Shoichi rose to his feet in a daze and walked out the door. He could barely hear his fiancée calling out to him. When he came back to reality, the man found himself standing in the middle of the road.

This wasn't the first time this had happened.

"You there!" a woman's voice shouted. Shoichi looked up to see Kuzuhara Shinju staring at him with a flashlight on him. She could see that he had no shoes on his feet. Shoichi shrugged and shook his head.

"I have no idea," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"One minute, I was having dinner with my fiancée and the next I am standing out here with no shoes or a jacket."

"Are you high or something?"

"No."

"Are you okay in the head?"

"Yes… At least, I think I am." Shoichi put up his hands. "It's okay, I'm not armed. I don't have anything on me." Shinju opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when they heard someone yell, "Uncle!" She and the confused man looked up to see Michiko running across the street to them. She came within inches of Shoichi.

"Uncle, so this is where you got to," the young girl said. "Why did you take off on me like that?" Shinju turned to the confused man. Shoichi could only shrug and shake his head.

* * *

"Don't make me do all of the talking here," Kitano said. "Feel free to ask me any questions. We have plenty of time tonight." Mikado breathed heavily to stay calm.

"Why did you do this to us?" he asked.

"I'm going to need a witness to the whole show," the therapist said without batting an eye.

"What?"

"You see, the one that frees the Woman in Red, pays the ultimate price with their life."

Mikado's jaw dropped. "What?! Why would you do this if you you're going to day?!"

"I made a promise and I will keep it." He said it so nonchalantly. The tadpole blinked with big eyes. Who the hell was this guy?

-21:00-

Satsu playfully leapt onto the bed.

"Are you ready to watch more videos?" she asked. Aoi gave her a concerned look.

"I think you need to lay off of the videos for a while," she said. Satsu gave her an innocent, pouty look.

"Aw, why, Baby?" she asked. Aoi grabbed her arm, trembling.

"DeathVine is creeping me out," she said. "How can you stay up watching such morbid things every night?" She remembered her girlfriend watching a video of a drunken woman beating her son to death around two in the morning. Satsu leaned forward and nuzzled Aoi on the neck.

"You know it's part of my study in the dark side of human behavior," she said. "I have to see humanity at its ugliest."

"But doesn't that wear you down over time?" Aoi asked. "If I watched videos like that every night, I would just be depressed all time and end up hating myself." Her girlfriend pulled her into her arms.

"No," she simply said. Aoi looked her lover in the eye.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Because, I have you to remind me there are still good things in this world," Satsu said. She kissed Aoi on the lips quickly. Her girlfriend slowly reached up to take hold of her. Now that she thought about it, Satsu never acted out her darker impulses out on their relationship. In fact, she had been quite gentle. She never hid anything about herself when they first met.

"I like creepy things," Satsu said when they met on the first day of abnormal psychology. "Sometimes, I like to go on the deep web out of curiosity." Most people would've been a little put off by that. Aoi, on the other hand, found herself intrigued.

"How creepy?" she asked. "Like dead bodies? Ghost stories? People being murdered?"

"All of it," Satsu said. To be fair, her mother was a coroner in a morgue.

Back in present day, Satsu let go.

"Now can we watch more of our professor friend?" she asked. "I'm finding him far more fascinating than those videos on DeathVine as of late." Aoi dropped her shoulders.

"If you insist," she said.

"I do," her girlfriend said.

"Alright," Aoi said. She turned to her laptop and brought up Yoemon-sensei's videos. Satsu rested her head on Aoi's shoulder.

"I love you," she murmured.

"Yeah," Aoi said.

* * *

Kitano studied Mikado closely. The barrier around his body seemed to be holding up for five hours. He wondered how much longer it would hold. What would happen if the barrier broke? Would Mikado run over and attack him? Would he steal his phone back? Would he try and call his brothers and sisters for help? Kitano's toes curled as he played out each scenario in his head.

"Could you please stop smiling like that?" Mikado asked. "It's creepy." The therapist cleared his throat.

"Do forgive me," he said. "But I can't help but entertain the idea of what will happen if the barrier decides to fail at any given time." Mikado raised his eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked.

"I am wondering what you would do if that happens," Kitano said. "You won't be able to escape easily, though. The cell phone reaction here is next to dead. Plus, your head was coved up by a sack. You don't even know where you are."

"Perhaps," Mikado said. "But I could figure it out." Kitano put up his hands.

"Well then, I'll just have to hope that the barrier holds for the next five to six hours," he said. Mikado glared at him. It took his all not to snap in the face of his captor.

He had to keep a clear head in order to get out of here.

-22:00-

This was Mika's idea.

She and Seji walked up to Celty and Shinra's apartment.

"Why are we here again?" Seji asked.

"I need to talk to Celty and Shinra about something," Mika said. She pounded on the front door.

"Can't it wait until morning?" her boyfriend asked.

"No!" Mika said. She pounded harder and faster on the door. The girl backed up when it opened.

"Mika?" Shinra asked. "What are you doing here so later?"

"I need to talk to you and Celty," she said. "This is really important." The doctor looked around outside.

"Okay, come in," he said.

"Thanks," Mika said. She bowed and went into the apartment. Shinra closed the door after Seji went inside.

Mika managed to tear herself away from Seji long enough to talk to Shinra and Celty in their room. She managed to convince her boyfriend to wait for her in the living room.

"This won't take too long," Mika promised him. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Alright," Seji said. Mika didn't waste any time saying what she wanted.

"You can feel it too, right?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Shinra asked.

"Tandeki's on the move again," Mika said in a hushed tone. "They've already opened three gates and now they've located the fourth one."

"[Do you know where it is?]" Celty typed on her PDA. Mika shook her head.

"I can remember them getting this far before the loop started over," she said. The girl turned to Celty.

"How much can you remember?" she asked. "What all have you been seeing around the city?"

"[I've seen that dragon covered in many eyes flying over the city,]" the dullahan typed. "[Also, I think something is targeting the children. Plus, there are the bakeneko and hitei-oni are still.]"

"Just as I thought," Mika said. "They are going faster with their game than they have done in the past." She paused as she remembered something else.

"I remember lying on the ground half-dead and everything was in ruins," the girl said as she pieced together the image in her head again. "There was a man standing over me. I can't remember what all he said. But, I remember a really thin needle being pushed into my right eye." Mika put her hand under said eye.

"Anri and those are in serious trouble," she said. "Tandeki is targeting them."

"What should we do?" Shinra asked.

"Please, stay by them," Mika pleaded. "There isn't much time left." Meanwhile, Seji was listening in on the whole conversation. He too had triggers in his memories, but he didn't realize it at the time.

* * *

"Oh yes," Kitano said. "I haven't gone into the really good parts of your evolution yet."

"Huh?" Mikado asked.

"Yes," the therapist said. "According to my notes, you can only see people's inner demons when you cover up your right eye. Correct?" The tadpole glared at his captor.

"Why?" he asked.

"Am I correct?" Kitano asked again.

"Yes."

"Well, did you know that you could train yourself to see them with both eyes? You can even make yourself see them whenever you want."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"I want you and your brothers and sisters to reach your full potential. Our interns are putting their hands into your perfection. I'm sure you are aware of the first three gifts from them, yes?"

His captor's gleeful tone made Mikado want to vomit. "How far are you going to take your sick experiments on us?"

"Oh, I have plenty of ideas. What I want, is to make you better. Correct all of your flaws that come with being human. Pretty soon, you won't need to eat or sleep. You won't feel pain and you'll injuries will heal. You will always be healthy. You could even stay young for the rest of your life. You could even live forever."

"Why would I want those things?"

"You've always wanted an extraordinary life, right?"

"But…"

"Right?"

Mikado lowered his eyes. "Yes…"

"Well then, think of this as us granting us your wish."

"But, you'll take away everything that will make me."

"Nonsense. You will still have your free will and your personality. You will still have your memories and the core thing that makes you you."

"Why?"

"Robots are so dull. I feel that you having free will would make this much more entertaining." Kitano paused when he heard Mikado mumble something under his breath.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Cronus!" Mikado repeated. "That's all you are!"

Kitano smirked at this retort. "Then does that make Zeus in this case?"

-23:00-

Most of Ikebukuro is deserted for the night. All of the salarymen and office ladies on the night shift have headed home for the next day. Even some of the more notorious gangs are out here tonight either.

Noriko climbed into a dusty white Toyota just parked in the parking lot outside of her apartment.

"Thank you for meeting me out here like this. I didn't know where else to turn."

"That is okay. I am here to lend an ear. What's on your mind tonight?"

Noriko looked down at her hands. "Well… I am starting to have the dreams again."

"About the man and the baby?"

She nodded. "I see a lady sitting on a kitchen floor holding a dead baby. The room's dead and she's crying. The man walks into the room and asks what happened."

"What happens next?"

Noriko shook her head. "I always wake up at that moment. Sometimes, I hear a baby crying in the early hours of the morning. There aren't even any children in the apartment complex I live in."

"What other dreams have you been having?"

Noriko took a moment to think. "It all comes out in bits and pieces. I still can't make sense of anything. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Take your time if you need to."

"Yes."

"Who do you think the baby is?"

Noriko's eyes darkened as she lowered them. "It's my baby."

"What are you talking about? Noriko…"

She lifted her head, glaring. "I would prefer if you not call me that. That is not my name."

"Okay… Then, what should I call you?"

"My real name would be nice."

"And what would that be?"

Noriko spoke her true name, but her words came out barely audible.

* * *

"You're not tired or anything, are you?" Kitano asked. "You can go to sleep if you want to."

"I'm fine, thank you," Mikado said.

"You sure?" the therapist asked. "You've got four more hours until I release you. It's okay if you want a quick nap during that time."

"I told you, I am fine," the tadpole boy repeated. Kitano put up his hands.

"Okay," he said. "It was just an offer." Mikado sneered as he went back to figuring out to back out of the barrier and escaping.

-0:00-

It's dead quiet in Ikebukuro now. There wasn't a single soul in sight. The dead quiet makes for the perfect horror setting.

Hecate and Lucy still stood by the gate, waiting. The younger nightcomer bounced on her heels as she bit on her lower lip. She reached out to open the gate.

"Not yet," Hecate said for the third time. Lucy threw her hands up in the air.

"When?!" she complained.

"I will tell you," Hecate said. "The time has to be just right." Lucy lowered her hand, frowning.

"Fine," she grumbled. Lucy stood by her sister, frowning.

* * *

Masaomi, Taichi, and the tadpoles met up at the fountain at Ikebukuro West Park.

"Anything?" Masaomi asked.

"No," they said.

"I couldn't see anything," Madoka said. "I've looked all over the city from the rooftop twice." Masaomi cursed himself and gritted his teeth.

"How could you let this happen?!" Tetsu asked. Masaomi lowered his eyes.

"I said I was sorry," he said. "I got a cry for help from someone I thought was my girlfriend." Tetsu wrinkled his nose.

"So you abandoned him for some girl?!" he asked.

"I said I was sorry," Masaomi said. "I didn't know I was being tricked into leaving him."

"You should've had him come with you!" the fire tadpole snapped.

"He sent me off to check on Saki-chan," the blonde shogun said. "Mikado said that he would be okay without me."

"Well clearly he wasn't, now was he?" Tetsu asked.

"Enough!" Midori shouted. Both boys went quiet. The time tadpole drew in a deep breath.

"Standing around yelling at each other will not find him," she said. "We know Mikado isn't dead or else we would be seeing people's inner demons as well."

"So… Where is he?" Masaomi asked.

"I have no idea," Midori admitted. "But we will keep looking for him. I promise you. We will find him. We will triple our efforts if we have to!"

"Thanks!" the blonde shogun said, bowing.

"Let's get back to looking!" Nami said.

"I'll go look from another building," Madoka said. Masaomi, Taichi, and the tadpoles resumed their search.

* * *

Mikado sneezed, waking Kitano up from dozing off.

"Ah, someone's talking about you," he said. "It's probably your brothers and sisters looking for you right now."

"I don't understand something," Mikado said.

"What?" the therapist asked.

"Why me? You could've taken any of the other tadpoles and brought them here. Why did you take me?"

"I feel that I don't have to explain it to you in words. Try to piece it altogether in your head. I'll give you a hint: if has something to do with today's augmentation."

"Augmentation?"

"Come on, you must have felt more changes in your body by now."

That sentence was enough for Mikado to pieces together in his head. Once he figured it out, he glared at his captor.

"You just wanted them too busy looking for me to stop whatever you are planning," he said.

"Pi-pon! Pi-pon!" the therapist said. Mikado gritted his teeth. Kitano looked down at black marking around his hostage's chair on the floor. The characters moved in wavy lines. He looked up at the clock on the back wall. If the barrier could hold for the next three hours, he would in the clear. For now, Kitano would have to keep his "guest" preoccupied until the gate opened.

-1:00-

Kaori wandered through the empty streets. She twirled her umbrella above her head. She enjoyed nights like this. At the moment, there wasn't much for her to do. Sure, torturing Aoba was entertaining, but sometimes that wore thin. When was the last time Kaori killed anybody besides Mairu? Getting out in the world was almost like going on vacation in way.

Kaori stretched her arms in the dark sky and laughed.

"This city will burn to the ground!" she bragged. But then, Kaori paused. "Oh, how long have you been there?" Hikari stepped out from the alley.

"Perceptive as usual," Hisan said in her body.

"How long have you been wearing that vessel?"

Hisan did a quick count. "I would say about three months now. I really do look through all of her most embarrassing moments, especially about that boyfriend who dumped her for another girl."

"I see."

"Have you been killing any humans lately?"

"Quite a few, actually."

"Oh?"

Kaori smiled and twirled about. "I wiped out a whole gang and a little teenage girl just to torture this one boy."

Hisan grinned. "Really? Tell me more!" She watched as her acquaintance jumped up onto a guard rail.

"The gang part was to separate Chirin from them to make the game much easier to play," Kaori said. The hitei-oni tilted her head.

"Now which one is Chirin again?" she asked.

"He created the Dollars. And he his short black spikey hair and blue eyes."

"Is that one who can see inner demons?"

"Yeah."

"Ah yes. The information broker seems to be in love with him. Speaking of which, when are you going to kill him again?"

Kaori smiled and winked. "Secret!"

"Damn it! The others and I are running a betting pool."

"Betting pool?"

Hisan grinned. "We're betting on how Izaya's going to die this time."

"Oooo! Can I place a bet?"

"Sure."

"What all do you have?"

"Car accident, stabbing, beatings, hit-and-run, shot, poisoned, and surprise."

Kaori took a minute to think. "How many are betting on surprise?"

"Just me and a couple other demons."

"I'll go with surprise too."

"Okay. Hang on." Hisan pulled out a notepad and wrote down Kaori's bet. "Got it."

"Thanks," Kaori said.

"Oh and when's the next gate opening?" the possessed girl asked. Her acquaintance looked at her pocket watch.

"Two hours," she said.

"Sweet," Hisan said. "Can I watch?"

"Sure," Kaori said. "Follow me." She led the demon possessed girl down the street just before they turned invisible.

* * *

"You know what I can't stand?" Kitano asked.

"What?" Mikado asked.

"I can't stand when the villain tells the hero his plans when he has the hero in captivity," the therapist said. "I mean, they have the hero there. Why give up the plan? Just kill them and down what they plan to do!" The tadpole boy stared at him blankly.

"That was rather random…" he said. Kitano shrugged him off.

"I do apologize," he said. "I'm just passing what little time there is left. We've only got three hours left together, by the way."

"Don't remind me," his hostage grumbled.

"I'm sorry?" Kitano asked. Mikado just shook his head.

-2:00-

Tsukamoto Shin, aged forty-three, turned on his TV. His old show only aired syndicated on the NHK channel. He worked as a psychiatrist with a prime time talk show. Shin was a big deal back then.

Now when he sees himself on the TV, he feels so empty inside. His house, once warm and happy, now surrounds him in hollow sorrow. All he has left are the memories of that once ideal life. It was all because his pride that he had to parade around for the public eye. That pride cost him dearly. But, he does not watch himself on TV out of pity.

It is to remind him of what he has to do to make it right. Because of this, Shin cut himself off from the public world. He still works as a therapist. He just not in the public eye anymore. But there is another reason that he hangs on.

Shin may have lost everything, but he still has his desire to avenge their deaths. He narrowed his eyes at the TV screen as the credits rolled by on the screen. The fallen psychiatrist already knew where to start.

* * *

Kitano looked at the clock on the back and began counting down. 2:59. Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two…

"One," Kitano said to himself. Mikado lifted his head.

"What?" he asked.

-3:00-

Lucy turned to her sister. Hecate cracked a cat-like smile.

"Open the gate!" she shouted. Lucy grinned back her. The nightcomers turned to Yagiri Pharmaceuticals and held up their hands. A faded light formed in front of them. They paid no attention to the sparks flying around them. The energy from their hands disappeared into the invisible wall, causing the ground to shake for thirty minutes. The nightcomers lowered their hands. Hecate turned to her sister.

"We're done here," she said.

"Nice!" Lucy said. The nightcomers vanished into thin air.

* * *

Across the street, Kaori and Hisan saw the whole thing. The demon possessed girl had to cover her mouth. Her companion turned to her with a smile on her face.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked. "And now the real fun begins." The shaking ripped through Ikebukuro in waves.

-4:00-

Mikado was about to doze off when the ground violently shook.

"What was that?" he asked, looking around. Kitano grinned like the devil himself.

"It's done," he said.

"What?" the tadpole asked. To his surprise, he found himself able to move again. The therapist looked around Mikado's feet and noticed that barrier was gone.

"And now, you can go," Kitano said. He pulled out Mikado's phone from his coat and tossed it to his favorite pet. The tadpole caught it with his right hand.

"The way out is up the stairs and old the front doors," the therapist said. "We'll be in touch soon." So many ugly things Mikado could've said to his creator/captor as he left. Instead, muttered something cold under his breath and walked up the metal stairs. Kitano waited until he was sure that Mikado was gone before turning on his phone and exiting the basement bar himself.

* * *

As soon as Mikado stepped outside, the glaring difference hit him like an invisible wave. He thought that he just got shot in the face with a sawed-off shot gun in the first few seconds of being free. The whispering sounded like echoing feedback over microphones. He could feel many eyes staring at him. No one was around, but that didn't stop the demons coming and enjoying the living world for the first time in many years. Their footsteps sounded worse than gunfire. Some of the said demons were whispering about him as they stared at him. Mikado backed up as he shook his head.

"No. Please don't look at me like that," he said as the wavering sounds made his ears ring. "You're creeping me out." The overwhelming smell of burning sulfur made him want to vomit. He broke down sweating and trembling. The glowing faces of the demons looked like floating masks in the dim morning. Were they coming towards him or standing still? One demon started wailing like a high-pitched whistle as it flew overhead. Despite the sun not being out, the darkness made Mikado's eyes tear up. He tried to vain to grab onto something, anything to steady himself. At one point, the boy thought there were pounding drums coming for him. Every direction of escape looked blocked off. The darkness raced towards him, looking to close in on him and tear him to shreds. Mikado's eyes widened as his own pounding heart made the situation even worse.

_Get me out of here…_

It all became silent and he collapsed on the sidewalk.

* * *

Kitano walked from around the corner and stood over an unconscious Mikado. He shook his head.

"Oh boy," the therapist muttered. Kitano picked the boy and dragged him over to his car.

-5:00-

Celty had just come back from an early morning job. The client wouldn't tell them who they were or what they needed transported. In fact, it was a text from an anonymous number.

"Pick up job down near the dock. Payment will be really nice."

At first, Celty didn't trust the words on the screen. She showed her phone to Shinra.

"[What do you think?]" she typed on her PDA. The doctor looked at her phone for a little bit.

"It looks pretty suspicious to me," he said. "And you've never seen this number before?"

"[No. Should I take it?]" the dullahan typed. Shinra looked up at her.

"That's up to you," he said. "If you do decide to take the job, please be very careful."

* * *

That job turned out to be a long and confusing bust. Celty did pick up the bag at the dock, but didn't know where to drop it off. The caller left money, but no destination. At long last, the frustrated dullahan finally came home. She rubbed the front of her kitty helmet.  _What was all of that about?_

It then donned on her that she wasn't alone.

Celty slowly looked up. A pale woman in a bright white kimono sat at the bottom of the stairs. Blood covered the abdomen and crotch part of her clothes as she held a baby in a thin blue blanket. The child, as far as Celty could see, was dead. She could see the umbilical cord hanging down from the bloody blanket. The woman's bright red eyes drowned in sorrow. Normally, the dullahan would try and help this lady, but every part of her being warned her to stay away.

_Who is she?_

The woman never said a word. She stood up with her with lifeless child in her arms and quietly walked away. The umbilical cord dragged across the ground behind her.


	15. Akabayashi

Halo Fourteen: Akabayashi:

It started out as a request from the Project Heaven Department. Daichi came to Aya in her office in Rampo Biotech. He knocked on the door.

"Enter," she said. Daichi opened the door. Aya looked up from her desk.

"Did you want something?" she asked. Daichi closed the door behind him.

"We've got a problem," he said.

"What is it?" the therapist asked.

"The Awakusu is starting to catch onto Red Rabbit," Daichi said in a low voice. Aya raised her eyebrow.

"And… what do you want me to do about it?" she asked.

"Can't you kill that Red Demon or something?" Daichi asked. "I know Heaven's Slave aren't the best to work with, but we had to keep them under our thumb or we'd run into bigger problems down the road." Aya clicked her pen closed.

"Hajime-san, you know we can't kill a member of the yakuza," she said. "If you kill one, the others will come after you seeking revenge."

"Not directly," Daichi said. "Can't you like curse him to death or something?" Aya all but laughed at him.

"Curse him to death?" she asked. "What am I, a witch?"

"I'm willing to take anything at this point," he said.

"Does Myojin-san know you're here?"

Daichi shuffled his feet. "I just told him I would take care of the problem."

"I see…" Aya put down her pen. "Lucky for you, there is a curse that I always wanted to try out that Keating-san mentioned in passing one time." The young man stared at her, wide-eyed.

"So you will help us after all?" he asked. Aya gave him a little smile.

"I'll see what I can do," she said.

* * *

She had to get permission first. Kitano is a stickler for running a tight ship. One little slip-up and the game could come unraveled. He already approved her proposal for the spell, but told her to hold off.

Tonight, that all changed.

Aya stopped by Kitano's office.

"You wanted to see me?" Aya asked.

"Yes," Kitano said. "You remember your proposal to me about Akabayashi-san?"

"Yes," Aya said. The older therapist handed her a small black tablet.

"Now that the fourth gate's open," he said. "You are free to work on your curse." The younger therapist quickly bowed.

"Thank you, sir," she said. Aya couldn't do this alone.

Enter Hecate and Lucy.

As Aya walked out of Kitano's office, she pulled out her cell phone.

"We've been expecting your car, Otomo-san," Hecate said on the other line.

"You nightcomers really perceptive," Aya said.

"Well?"

"Kitano-sensei will allow me to go ahead with the spell."

"Excellent."

"You and your sister can find Rampo Biotech with no problems, right?"

"Yes we can."

"Good. How far are you from here?"

"We can be there in about… thirty to forty minutes."

"Good, good. Meet me outside at the front in the building in thirty minutes."

"Alright," Hecate said.

"Thank you," Aya said. She hung up with a cat-like smile on her face.

* * *

The women needed supplies for the spell. Aya already knew the spell that she wanted to use on Akabayashi.

"I think we should create a monster that feeds off of hate and rage," Lucy said. Aya shook her head.

"No, love is a stronger motive than hate," she said.

"Oh?" Lucy asked. Aya shoved forward a photograph of a woman with red eyes.

"Her name was Sonohara Sayaka," she said. "I took the liberty of doing research on the target. Sonohara-san was possessed by the demon sword, Saika. On one night while the target was trying to collect money from the Sonohara Hall, Sonohara-san attacked him with Saika and he fell hard for her."

"How sweet," the nightcomer said.

"But," the therapist said. "She was married at the time. One night, her husband tried to murder their daughter and Sonohara-san killed him and committed suicide." Hecate smiled in the darkness.

"So, we are in a way going to bring Sonohara-san back from the dead?" she asked.

"You can say that," Aya said.

"Wait," Lucy said. "You said Sonohara, yeah?"

"That's right," the therapist said.

"Isn't she Anri's mother?" the younger nightcomer asked.

"Yes," Aya and Hecate said.

"Oh!" Lucy said, intrigued. "That just made things much more interesting."

* * *

The nightcomers gathered up the supplies they needed. Aya already had eight of the ingredients needed for the spell. Lipstick, photograph of Sayaka, cinnamon, clipped fingernails, dried peppers, pomegranate seeds, a snake's skin, and dried peony flowers. The only things see needed were fish eyes, crow feathers, and two strands of Akabayashi's hair. Aya looked at her cell phone. No new calls. Surprising that her ex-in-laws weren't hounding her for dragging out the divorce case. Did they finally give up? Ha! Like that would ever happen…

Aya looked up when she heard a door on the laboratory door.

"Enter!" she said. Hecate and Lucy walked into the lab. Aya shoved her phone into her pocket.

"Did you get everything?" she asked.

"Yes," the nightcomers said. The psychiatrist rose to her feet.

"Good, let's get started," she said. The three women walked over to a smooth black table in the middle of the room. Aya turned on a heater underneath a small silver bowl. She let the water boil before throwing in the peony and cinnamon. Hecate stepped forward and put in the fish eyes. Aya ignored them staring up at her as she put in the snake skin. The fingernails, peppers, pomegranate seeds, and feathers went in next. Aya put on the dark red lipstick and kissed Sayaka's picture. She then threw it and Akabayashi's hair into potion. The liquid turned a greenish-black color. The smell didn't bother the women. They each joined hands and started to chant.

"Ai to cho han," Aya and the nightcomers said. "Ai to cho han. Ai to cho han. Ai to cho han!" The liquid below started bubbling faster and changing to a light pink. Tiny sparks shot up with the smoke. With one loud boom, the liquid was gone. All that remained in the bowl was a little white faceless doll with a heart deep red heart in the chest are. The little heart was beating in a steady rhythm. Aya resisted the urge to touch it. Lucy walked over to the side tables and got a glass case covered in holes. She set it over the bowl.

"And now we wait," Aya said.

* * *

It was raining that night.

Akabayashi walked home, rubbing the back of his head. He had the strange feeling that someone snuck up behind him and yanked out some of hair. The notion rather puzzled him. Why would anyone want to do that? His thoughts were pushed aside when he heard a clacking noise approaching his direction. The mobster turned his head.

A woman was walking across the Mutsumata-rikkyo Overpass under a giant red umbrella. The heavy rain added a spooky, but elegant ambience surrounding her. Her pale skin and long black hair gave the appearance of glowing in the darkness. Akabayashi shivered when he caught her eye. The red glow gave him memories of that time he met Sayaka. Everything about her looked just like his lost love. This woman even wore the pink blouse and long white skirt Sayaka wore when they first met. Did she come back to him?

Akabayashi shook his head. That wasn't possible. She's been dead for years. But this woman's glowing red eyes seemed to tell him otherwise. The mobster walked over to the woman with the red umbrella.

"I do apologize for saying this," he said. "But you really do look like someone I knew a long time ago." The woman looked him deep into his good eye. Her lips begged for a kiss as they trembled. She looked so small under him. The look in her eyes pleaded with him to protect her. Akabayashi hesitated with his urge to pull her into his arms. Who was this woman making him relive the first meeting with his beloved Sayaka?

He took her home with him.

She sat on his bed as he stood in front of her. Akabayashi had been thoughts about how this could play out. At heart, he was gentleman to women. She didn't object to coming home with him. Would be okay if they…?

Akabayashi walked up to the woman knelt down in front of her.

"Sayaka," he said in a low voice. The mobster lifted her chin and gently kissed her on the lips. A spark of warmth raced through his body. He pulled her into his arms. She dropped back onto his bed. "Sayaka" smiled as he huddled on top of her. For many nights, Akabayashi dreamt of how this would've been. What if she had left her husband and brought Anri to live with him?

He grabbed her blouse and slid it off. His blazer and shades followed behind. "Sayaka" reached up and touched his right eye. Akabayashi lowered her hand. She said something almost inaudible.

"Hm?" he asked. She looked up at him with helpless eyes.

"I like you," she whispered again. Akabayashi leaned down and kissed her again. They both undressed and "Sayaka" opened her legs underneath him. Tangled up. Tangled up in her. She smelt of jasmines and gardenias. Her soft whimpering teased his ears. She reached up and stroked his cheek.

"I like you," she said. "I like you!" When he bit her on the lower lip, she whispered, "More."

He stole one more kiss before reaching his climax. Akabayashi lay beside her, panting. "Sayaka" looked so beautiful spent. He went to sleep with his arm over her slender body.

* * *

She barely speaks. Only says, "I like you" and "more". Akabayashi over sees her around night. They meet up at the Mutsumata-rikkyo Overpass. Sometimes, he would bring her flowers. Though "Sayaka" barely smiled, he could see how happy she was by looking into her glowing red eyes. The mobster greeted her with a kiss and take her home with him.

Most of the time, she would leave by morning. Akabayashi felt along the empty side of his bed. Part of him wished that she would stay with him until he left for work. He hadn't noticed how lonely the apartment felt without her until after the first night they slept together. Akabayashi didn't know about "Sayaka" either. He didn't know her real name. He didn't know where she lived. Or where she went or did during to the day. Somehow that didn't matter. He just had to be with her. "Sayaka" made his nights less lonely.

There were those rare moments that she would be still be in his bed by morning. It was as if she could hear what he longed for after their lusty nights together. She didn't have to say anything. Having her by his side was enough.

"I'm heading out for another job today," Akabayashi said as he got dressed in the mirror. "What you like to have for dinner tonight?" "Sayaka" lay in his bed with the sheets covering her breasts. He couldn't see her full face in the mirror from where he stood.

"Shabu-shabu," she said.

"Alright," Akabayashi said. He finished buttoning up his shirt. The mobster didn't notice the deep purple mark on his chest. He walked over kissed "Sayaka" on the lips.

"I'll see you tonight," Akabayashi said. He turned and walked out the door.

* * *

Within the coming weeks, Shiki began to notice something wrong with Akabayashi. The Red Demon executive looked pale and seemed to have lost a great amount of weight. He used his cane more and more for support. Akabayashi was even coughing.

"You feeling okay?" Shiki asked in his office.

"Of course," the Red Demon executive said in a raspy voice. "Why wouldn't I be?" He coughed hard enough to make his chest hurt. Shiki frowned and shook his head.

"Take the rest of the day off and see a doctor," he said.

"Are you sure?" Akabayashi asked.

"Yes," his boss instantly. The Red Demon executive didn't argue back. He left and headed to the doctor's office. They couldn't find anything wrong with him for some reason. Akabayashi was told that he was just coming down with the flu. They gave him meds and sent him on his way.

He met up with "Sayaka" at the Mutsumata-rikkyo Overpass at the usual.

* * *

Around the same time of this meeting, Anri was heading home when she saw Akabayashi passing by her with a woman that looked like her late mother. The girl stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Mom?" she asked. Akabayashi put his arm around the woman's shoulder.

"No," Anri said.

" _That's not your mom,_ " Saika said inside of her. " _Imposter! Imposter! That's not your mother!_ " Her words were motive enough to follow the couple in secret.

She trailed them back to Akabayashi's apartment. Part of Anri knew that she shouldn't be doing this. If he had a new love in his life, then she should be happy for her guardian. But something didn't feel right. And that nagging suspicion wouldn't leave her until she had her answers.

Anri remembered that she had a spare key to Akabayashi's apartment. He gave it to her in case of emergency. But, Anri had never been over to his place until tonight. She waited until she was sure that he and his woman were completely inside the apartment. The girl took out her key and unlocked the door as quietly as she could.

"Excuse me, I'm coming in," she whispered to herself. Anri crept inside and took off her shoes. She did her best to stay quiet as she looked around in the darkness. Her ears caught a loud groaning noise. Anri had a guess about what was going on.

_I shouldn't be doing this._

Maybe, she could just turn around and let Akabayashi be happy with his new girlfriend who looked like her mother. It should be fine, right? Right? Anri crept down the hall, using the noises as a way guide her. She found the bedroom door. Her heart raced as she peeked through the crack. Anri became horrified at what she saw.

Akabayashi was in the middle of the throes of passion with a rotting corpse that looked like her mother.

The poor girl hoped that this was a bad dream she had stumbled into. Anri rubbed her eyes, but the picture did not change. Most of the woman's lower jaw had rotted off. Her eyes looked so hollowed and empty. Anri backed away with the color drained from her face. She turned and run out of the apartment as fast as she could.

* * *

Anri couldn't keep this to herself. But, who would believe her? They would all assume that she had gone crazy. She still couldn't shake the feeling that Akabayashi could be in danger with that woman wearing her mother's face.

In that moment, Anri knew who to turn to.

On another rainy evening, she knocked on Celty and Shinra's door. The doctor greeted her.

"Anri!" Shinra said. "How have you been?" He noticed her trembling as she grabbed her arm.

"What's the matter?" Shinra asked. Anri's lips trembled.

"I really need to talk to you," she said. "This is really important."

"Okay, come in," Shinra said. The doctor helped her into the apartment.

Anri sat in the chair trembling as Shinra handed her a cup of tea.

"Thank you," she said without looking up.

"[What's on your mind?]" Celty asked. Anri clenched her tea cup.

"It's Akabayashi-san," she said in a low voice. The poor girl couldn't get the creepy images out of her head. She almost dreaded saying what she saw out loud.

"What about him?" Shinra asked. Anri lifted her head.

"I… I …" she said.

"[Take your time if you have to,]" Celty typed. Anri closed her eyes.

"I saw Akabayashi-san sleeping with a corpse!" she blurted out. The poor girl thought that she would throw up.

"What?" Shinra asked with a confused look on his face. Anri forced herself to repeat the whole story she saw the night before. The whole time, she looked shaken up. When the girl had finished, she pulled her knees to her chest.

"And you're sure you didn't dream up the whole thing?" Shinra asked. Anri shook her head. Celty put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Saika's welder looked up to see the dullahan's PDA inches from her face.

"[It's okay, I believe you,]" it read.

"Thank you," Anri said. "But what I don't know what to do. He's been really sick lately and it's been getting worse." Celty began to think back on the times she crossed paths with Akabayashi in the past few weeks. The mobster looked closer to death each day. She had to try and help him up when he near fell over one day. When the dullahan grabbed him by the arms, she could hear a faint screeching noise coming from his body.

"[Tell me something, Anri. Do you think that woman with Akabayashi-san might be the reason that he's been really ill lately?]" Celty typed on her PDA. Anri read the screen closely.

"I don't really know," she said.

"[I see…]" Celty typed. Shinra looked as he tried to figure out what his girlfriend was thinking.

* * *

The next day, Celty voiced her concerns to Shiki.

"[Have you been noticing if Akabayashi-san's been getting sick lately?]" she asked with her PDA.

"Why yes," he said. "I had him go see a doctor a few weeks ago."

"[What did they say?]" the dullahan typed.

"They told it was the flu," Shiki said. "But I don't buy it."

"[I don't think it's the flu either,]" Celty typed. "[Has he been seeing anyone lately?]" The mob boss took a moment to think back over the past few weeks.

"I didn't ask him, but I had suspected as much," he said at last.

She hesitated at first, but then typed, "[I think his new relationship might be what's making him sick.]" Shiki stared at the screen for a good minute.

"What do you mean by this?" he asked. Celty broke down Anri's story as quick as she could.

"And this is what you believe is making him ill?" Shiki asked.

"[Yes,]" Celty typed.

"What do you suggest we do?" he asked.

* * *

Shiki and Celty went down to see a Buddhist priest about their predicament. The mob executive didn't believe in this sort of thing, but he trusted Celty's judgment. The dullahan explained the situation to the priest.

"Your colleague is being cursed to death," the old priest said at last.

"By who?" Shiki asked.

"I do not know," the priest said. "But this is powerful magic. If your colleague continues to see that woman, he will die. She's already drained most of the life out of him."

"[Is there a way to break the curse?]" Celty typed.

"Yes," the old priest said. "Come with me." She and Shiki followed him to the back of the temple.

Shiki's men, Celty, and Anri put up protective charms around Akabayashi's apartment. The Buddhist priest filled the mobster in on what was going on.

"The only way you will be able to survive is if you can resist this woman calling out to you for the whole night," he told him. It hurt to hear that, but Akabayashi decided to give it a try if he wanted to live and get better. Once the barrier was set, the only thing left to do was wait.

* * *

"Is the fun over already?" Lucy asked, as she pouted and looked out the window of their laboratory. Aya sat at her desk, smirking.

"No," she said. The nightcomer turned to her with a confused look on her face.

"But didn't you hear what that priest said?" she asked.

"Yes," the psychiatrist said. "But, he'll have a change of heart really soon." Lucy walked over to her desk.

"You sound so sure about that," she said.

"Yes," Aya said again. "Because love is not that easy to resist in the end." Meanwhile on the table, the doll in the glass case had melted down to a clear waxy frame. Its little heart inside still beat away.

* * *

Nightfall came. It had already started to rain again. Akabayashi sat in his living room and waited. Both Shiki and the priest ordered him to stay in the barrier and resist "Sayaka" calling to him. He turned off the lights in his apartment and stayed by the door. Around this time, the mobster would be unlocking the door and letting his lover in. Despite knowing this could save his life, it still hurt inside.

Just as expected, there was a knock on his door. Akabayashi didn't dare get up and answer it. He could her voice wailing for him outside.

"Mizuki-kun!" she cried. "Mizuki-kun!" The Red Demon Executive didn't dare to move.  _I'm so sorry, Sayaka._

"No like me?" she asked outside. It wasn't true. As much as wanted to rush out there and embrace her, doing so would cost him his life. Akabayashi lifted his head when he heard sobbing at his door. The mobster shut his good eye.

_I am so sorry, Sayaka-chan._

But it didn't take long for the crying and wailing to get to him. Akabayashi stood up and opened the door. "Sayaka" stood outside, soaking wet. Her glowing red eyes drowned in pity. But, she couldn't go inside because of the barrier. Akabayashi threw his arms around her. He always made up his mind. Maybe one last goodbye wouldn't hurt. After this night, he could end and they would go their separate ways. The dream was nice to live while it lasted.

He reached over and tore down one of the main charms holding the barrier together. "Sayaka" followed him into his apartment.

* * *

Five days went by and Akabayashi had gone missing since Shiki and the others tried to save him.

"I can't get hold of that idiot," Aozaki Shu said as he hung up his cell phone. Already, Shiki had a bad feeling about this.

"Get the car ready," he said.

"Yes, boss," Aozaki said.

All of the Awakusu executives drove out Akabayashi's apartment. They persuaded the landlord to unlock the door. Inside smelt and felt like a tomb. Shiki noticed one of the protective charms ripped off of the door frame, he already pieced it together. He and the other men headed for the back bedroom. There was Akabayashi's body lying cold and lifeless in an intimate embrace with a skeleton.

* * *

The reports would list the official cause of Akabayashi's death as undetermined. But, he did die with a peaceful smile on his face. As for the skeleton. That only thing the coroner could determine from the examination was the gender.

By the size of the pelvis, the skeleton was female. That much was true. But they found themselves baffled when ran the dental records. Sonohara Sayaka was cremated years ago. Could it be possible that she had a twin sister that didn't know about? Her daughter, Anri, didn't think so.

"My mother was an only child as far as I know," she told the police when they asked that. Both the skeleton and Akabayashi's death remain open cases.

* * *

Meanwhile, Junko smiled in her office and flicked a black knight piece that was standing behind that trapped red game piece across the room. She snickered as it hit the wall and landed on the light brown rug on the floor. The nurse smirked as she ran her finger across the top of her plastic tube that contained the red piece, blue piece, yellow piece, mini bride cake topper, and the mini cherub in a circle in the center on chess board.

"They are all falling away from them, one by one," Junko muttered to herself. "All according to plan. Well what do you, that slut can be pretty useful for something after all." The nurse snickered to herself before she returned to her paperwork.

* * *

"You did a great job with further isolating Saika's Mother and helping Hajime-san and Myojin-san keep Project Heaven from getting derailed," Kitano said after he read the news on his phone at his desk.

"Thank you, Kitano-sensei," Aya said, bowing.

"But there is one more thing," he said.

"What is it?" the younger therapist asked.

"Don't become too reliant on magic," Kitano warned her. "It may be great use, but don't get too close to those women in Nam. We may trade information with them, but we can't trust them. Don't forget that. And don't forget that you have your own natural skills to rely on as well."

"Yes, sir," Aya said in a low voice.

"You are free to go," he said.

"Yes, sir," the younger therapist said. She bowed one time before she walked out of Kitano's office.

* * *

Back on the day the EMT's loaded both Akabayashi's covered body and the skeleton into the silent ambulance, Hecate and Lucy watched from the crowd. The younger nightcomer turned to her sister.

"You know what this reminds me of?" she asked.

"What?" Hecate asked.

"The strange story of an old grieving samurai coming from the Obon festival who meets a beautiful woman with a peony lantern walking in the darkness. She is accompanied by a small girl. Anyway, the samurai meets up with the woman and they become lovers. But she turns out to be from the dead and drains his life away. A neighbor and Buddhist priest try to help, but the samurai is too drawn in by the woman and dies in the arms of her skeleton. It's a really good story, actually." Hecate listened and nodded.

"I see," she said. "I will have to check it out."

"You must," Lucy said. Both nightcomers vanished into thin air.


	16. Megumi

Halo Fifteen: Megumi:

-Megumi-

I sat at the bar, searching. I am the pretty young thing that you should never leave alone with your boyfriend. Sex has always been a part of who I am ever since I was child. It's not my fault that all of the boys adore me. Maybe if their wives and girlfriends knew how to keep them happy in bed, they wouldn't be looking to stray in the first place. I make them feel like the luckiest man in Japan and they give me attention and sex. I can't tell you how many friendships I have broken up between guys. They've fought over me since I was five years old. Me? I just take in the attention and enjoy it.

My "hunting nights" are usually Friday and Saturday nights. I looked up and down the crowded bar. There are a few sixes and sevens tonight. Tens never come to this place. But, I have trained myself to lower my expectations if I want good sex. Lately, there ends up being a price for my conquests. I will get into that after I tell you a little bit about my background.

When I was three, I learned how to touch myself. No, I did not grow up in an abused childhood. Daddy loved me like any man loved his daughter. We got along really well. He showered me with gifts and affection. Mom died after I was born. For most of my childhood, it was just him and me. Oh, that man was good at doing hair. We weren't rich, but we lived comfortably. Daddy and I had nice-size house and we took vacations during the summer. Now, how did I grow up to be a woman? Daddy had been friends with this older woman who lived next door to us when I was younger. Ah yes, Kodama-san. She was a nice lady. Always had fresh, yummy treats pulled out from the oven. Sometimes, I would help out.

Now as a single parent, Daddy had to work to keep our house and us fed. As a result, I stayed at Kodama-san's place while he worked. When I was really little, that house was filled with wonders. I used to pretend it was a castle when Daddy dropped me off to go work. Kodama-san and I played board games, make goodies, watch TV, and tend her small vegetable garden in the back.

When I was ten years old, I discovered a new way to entertain myself at Kodama-san's house. One summer day, she was asleep on the couch. I didn't feel like playing with dolls. The newest one Daddy bought me for birthday didn't look so cute anymore. Nothing on TV at the time. I decided to wander around the house. When I came towards the back of the house, I could hear the washer and dryer running. Usually, Kodama-san hung her clothes out to dry on the clothes line in the backyard. But, it was running that afternoon. For some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of it. After looking around and making sure that my neighbor was still sleeping, I climbed on top of the dryer while it was still moving and sat on top.

I don't think I've ever felt a sensation like that before against my little panties. I just… I didn't know what to call it. I just closed my eyes and sat on that rocking machine. When it stopped, I opened my eyes and felt cold. From then on, I wanted to ride that dryer on laundry days. I even tried to help.

"You are sure a sweet and thoughtful girl," Kodama-san told me one day as she stuffed the wet clothes into my favorite machine. I smiled like a little angel.

She had no idea.

I stuck my hand up in the air.

"Bartender!" I said. "Get me another!" If I wasn't drinking right now, I would probably throw up from all of the pounding from the music and chatter around me. The more I drink, the more my hunting nights become bearable.

But, it isn't long before I'm not alone.

I looked over to my right and see a guy that is an eight. Oh! He's got nice cheek bones. Love the jawline. And his hands are a nice size too. I finished my drink and set down my glass.

"Looking for company tonight?" I asked. This handsome man turned his head. I smiled and flicked back my short dark hair.

"Hello there," he said. Just by looking into his deep brown eyes, I know that I have him. My lips gently came within inches of his ear.

"Let's say you and I blow this bar and head over to my place?" I asked. He quickly downed his drink.

"And what do you plan to do once we get there?" my new toy asked. I giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

By the time I reached my teen years, I used my looks to get what I wanted. I grew up an attractive girl. All eyes were on me wherever I go. Naturally, I basked in the attention. Those silly boys kept giving me love letters and gifts just so that I would give them the time of day. But, Daddy set my expectations high for a man. I wanted to lose my virginity to a prince. It didn't have to be "the one". They at least had to be a seven. Most of the boys at my school were fours and fives. But, boys weren't my only interest.

When I was thirteen, I had my first taste of alcohol. One of Daddy's old friends came by to visit one day. He had been living in the States and brought back a beautiful bottle of Scotch. I forgot what the brand was called. That golden color… Oh, it was so pretty. I could've sworn I heard it singing. When Daddy stepped out of the room to take a call, I came in with a tray of aiyu jelly. His friend's eyes lit up.

"Oh, aiyu jelly!" he said. "My favorite! Thank you, young lady!" I stared at that beautiful bottle on the table. Daddy's friend looked at what I was staring at.

"Oh, magnificent, isn't she?" he asked. I slowly nodded with my mouth open. Daddy's friend picked up his glass and wiped the rim with his handkerchief.

"Would you like some?" he asked. My little eyes grew wide.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. Daddy's friend opened that bottle and poured out a little bit of the Scotch. He held out the glass to me.

"Here," he said. I took hold of the glass like it was a rare diamond. Daddy's friend watched as I took the glass to my lips. In that moment, that was the first time I ever felt so nervous. I took a quick drink. My face reeled as I handed back the empty glass. Daddy's friend tried not to laugh at me.

"I'm sorry about that," Daddy said. "That call took longer than I had expected. Did I miss anything?" I turned and ran off.

Sometimes, the first taste is always bitter. But over time, I developed a taste for alcohol. It became my second favorite thing after sex. Speaking of which, I lost my virginity at the age of fifteen. I remember that spring afternoon. I had a plan: I would find a half-decent guy and sleep with him. It didn't take me long to find one. He was a year younger than me and grade younger than me. At first, I couldn't tell if he was a boy or girl. In fact, I thought he was gay. He didn't seem to have many friends. Probably could explain why he wasn't into it. Oh, that was bad. Not hot at all. I just asked if he wanted to do it with me. He didn't even blink as he said yeah. After class, we snuck out into the storage shed in the gym. I took off my panties and he took off his pants. It took that poor boy about three times to put it in. It was just awful. Just like the first time I tried alcohol.

Afterwards, I got better at sex. I was a quick learner, always have and always will. The boys always fought over me like they always did. I just basked in the attention. Dated quite a number of boys, but never had any serious relationships. I wasn't looking for a long-term boyfriend. I just wanted some fun to go with my youth. The girls in my class were jealous, but they didn't matter in my world. Those skanks might have called me a slut, but they were just repressed. They didn't even try to do anything to me. (I had my own way of dealing with them. How? That's a little secret.) Not much in my life changed after I lost my virginity. Daddy and I were still close. He had gotten promoted and started making more money. I worked hard in school to keep up my grades to make him so proud of me. Kodama-san, Daddy, and I all got along great still. In fact, I did my homework at her house. Her grandchildren started coming to visit her more often. Despite the noise, I rather enjoyed staying around her house when Daddy had to work late at night. Everything was going great.

And then Daddy had to go and marry that bitch.

My new boy toy wouldn't stop kissing me in the taxi cab. This game is so easy that it's starting to bore me. But, something has been different lately. I don't really know how to deal with it myself. I got distracted when my boy toy groped my breasts. I didn't even learn his name. Names are overrated, I guess. This was going to be a good night anyway.

I giggled as I lead my new friend up the stairs to my apartment. He kissed me again at the door.

"Easy there," I said. "Let's get inside front." I reached into my purse and pulled out my key. Inside, he pinned me to the wall. I held up my finger as he went in for another kiss.

"Hold on," I said. "I have an idea. Let's play a little game." He looked intrigued.

_She's quite kinky. I like where this is headed._  I know you do. I've been hearing all of the naughty things you've wanted to do to me the whole ride here. I just love how they look so innocent but turn out to be pretty freaky. Already, I began to plan out the rest of the night.

I playfully pushed him back onto my bed. He looked up as I smiled and closed the door behind me. I pulled off my short black dress. I stood in my lacy red bra and panties.

"Tell me, do you tell I am beautiful?" I asked. I looked at he like a vulnerable little kitten. I even went as far as to bat my eyelashes at him.

"Yes!" my plaything said. I climbed over to my bed and crawled on top of him. Pupils dilated, heavy breathing, cheeks flushed, and the nice tent forming in his jeans. His thoughts begged me to fuck him. I smirked at such a needy little toy I turned him into.

I reached under my bed and pulled out my remote. With one push of the play button, Goldfrapp's "Thea" fills the room.

"I'm going to need you to do something for me," I said. "I am going to need you to worship with me."

"Wor…ship?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Do it with your words."

"Okay… My queen, my goddess! You are so beautiful! I have not worthy have you."

"Yes." I reached down and slid his shirt over his head. My cheeks flushed pink at his abs and chest muscle. Okay, he just went up from an eight to a nine.

"Worship me more!" I commanded. My play thing closed his eyes.

"My angel! You are the most beautiful woman in the world!" he cried. "Please! Let me love you!" I licked my lips as I reached behind my back. But then, I paused as I looked down at his pants.

"You don't look too comfortable in those," I said. "Here let me get that for you." I unzipped his jeans as I kissed him on the lips again. His worship sped up when I would let him up for air. His pants ended up on my floor. I sat up and reached behind my back again. This time, my bra landed on my dress. I roll down his boxers and throw them behind us. My panties were the last thing to go between us. I looked my prey in eyes once we were stripped naked.

"Now, you must worship me with your words  _and_  body," I said. My thighs came on either side of him as the next song in my mix started to play. He closed his eyes as he felt how wet I was around him.

"Make me yours, my goddess!" my nine cried as I rode him. "You are so beautiful! I will give up everything to worship you forever!" I threw back my head and moaned. I hadn't had this much pleasure since last night. Or the night before. My thrusting matched up with the beat of the music floating around me. When I looked down, the color was draining from my play thing's skin. His worship and praises of me started to weaken to a whisper.

"Keep worshiping me!" I commanded. "Give your life and body over to me!" He speaks even though his voice gets weaker and I can feel his life draining into me. By the time we reach the climax, I collapse beside of him. My plaything lay cold and dead beside me. So, this one just died this time, huh? Usually, it would take about two or three more times before they meet their demise. I slowly drew my eyes closed.

At least he died with a smile on his face.

When I was sixteen, that bitch ruined everything. That year, Daddy went to Paris on a business trip with the top executives from his company. I wanted to go with him, but I couldn't go along with him.

"I'm sorry, honey," he said. "But this is a very grown up trip. I will bring you back a nice present when I get home." I had no hard feelings because it. I knew that Daddy was going to keep his word. For two weeks, I stayed around Kodama-san's house. We did our usual things around her house. The whole time I wondered what Daddy was going to bring me this time. I could predict what he was going to get me this year because he always gets me the same thing. I decided to smile and act surprised. The day before he was due to arrive, I got a phone call from him.

"Hi, my little princess," he said. I sat up on the guest bed with a smile on my face.

"Daddy!" I said.

"How have you been?"

"Good. And you?"

"I'm doing great. Have you been behaving yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Listen, I will be home by later afternoon, okay?"

My heart did little flips in my chest. "Yay!"

"I've got a really good surprise for you."

"Ooo! What is it?"

"You'll have to see when I come home."

I pouted to myself. "Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too." I waited all day the next day, wondering what the new surprise would be. By evening, I received the nasty truth. Kodama-san and I were about have dinner with her grandchildren when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I said. I jumped up and ran to the door. My face dropped when I opened it. This lady stood outside dressed in a long white sundress with her face all made up looked at me. I blinked at first.

"Uh… who are you?" I asked. Daddy came up beside this woman and put his arm around her dainty shoulders.

"Hi, princess," he said. "This is Kimiko. She's going to be your new mom." Those words lingered in my head so long that I didn't see how this bitch was going to make my life hell for the next two years. How could Daddy betray me like this?!

By morning, my cell phone rang. I grumbled as I reached for my phone in the present.

"What is it?" I muttered.

"Is this Fukao Megumi?" some boy's voice asked on the other line. I narrowed my eyes.

"Who's asking?" I asked.

"My name is Ryugamine Mikado," the boy said. "I believe that you are a tadpole like us from Chou Mori." Those last two words made me sit up and take notice.

"Who told you about my time in that hellhole?!" I hissed.

"I was a victim of the same thing," Mikado said. "We all have." His words made me tremble.

* * *

-Kitano-

Kitano had just turned on his tablet for the morning when he noticed that he had new message on the screen. He tapped the bold number one and the envelope at the bottom. The therapist smirked at the new message.

"Ah, yes," Kitano said to himself. "Now things will get even better."


	17. Chikako

Halo Sixteen: Chikako:

"It doesn't make any sense," Chikako complained as she looked over her notes. She had been used to seeing strange things in her office. But these latest cases were doing her head in. Chikako went back to the beginning in her notes. She started with the Blue Square suicides. Those were open and shut cases. But, Chikako performed the autopsies as routine. The boys' bodies matched up to their causes of death. However, one detail stood out to the coroner.

Chikako looked over her pictures of the boys' wrists. Each one had this black flower marked deep into the skin. She hadn't caught it on the first victim, Gin, until she was about to wrap up her report. At first, Chikako thought that she was seeing things out of the corner of her eye. When she looked up and turned over the boy's right wrist, that's when she saw the dark flower. The coroner couldn't sworn that wasn't there before. She studied the markings under UBV light. To her surprise, the flowers had the same characteristics as a standard tattoo. Even the cuts from wrist to elbow fell naturally where the flower was tattooed on. What baffled her was how did she miss it until now?

She would've chalked it up to missing little details if it was a one-off.

How did six boys all have the same flower markings on their wrists? Chikako did bring up the questions among her colleagues, but they didn't think much about it.

"It's probably gang symbols or something like that," her mentor, Hirose-sensei, said. "Maybe a sign of initiation." Chikako started to doubt that the more she looked at the pictures. It felt more like a an initiation of a cult or a suicide pact. She would've left it at that, but something about those flower markings didn't seem right.

Next came the Oni Onna murders. Five victims so far. All hacked to death with a cleaver. The victims didn't have anything in common to the naked eye. The last one was rumored to be a human trafficker. Maybe the kill was looking for revenge. But that didn't explain the two salarymen, a drug dealer, and this random old man. The other four made sense in a way, but the old man, not so much. The police couldn't find out much about him either.

Chikako sat back and rubbed her forehead. But this latest case topped them all.

Akabayashi Mizuki was about in his forties when he died. Things about the autopsy didn't make any sense. It looked like his heart just stopped and the rest of his organs looked like ninety-year-old man's. She couldn't find any traces of drugs or poison in his blood. His toxicology came back negative three things. Plus, he didn't have any known heart problems or other health problems. And was with the deep purple bruising on this skin? The biggest mystery of all so far was the female skeleton found with him. Who was this woman? Dental records showed that she was supposed to be Sonohara Sayaka, but that couldn't be right.

Chikako read through her notes again when she heard plastic dropping on the floor. She looked up and saw a single tape cassette laying on the floor near the exit.

"What the…?" the coroner asked as she stood up. She looked around as she walked over to the tape. Chikako picked it up and looked it back and front. The coroner looked above her and saw a box tipped over on one of the shelves. She recognized the label on the side of the box.

"What's an evidence box from 1987 doing in here?" Chikako asked. She put the tape into her pocket and pulled down the box. It would be the right thing to take it back to the evidence room. Maybe somebody put the box in here while they got distracted and never came back for it. That had to be it. It had to be.

* * *

-Noon-

"You're still in here?" Hirose-sensei asked as he walked into the coroner's office when he saw the light on. "That's just like you, Nakata-san. Sometimes the guys in station wonder if you even have a social life." The old man broke into laughter.

"I don't mind that about you, myself," he said. "Yuuki-san is pregnant again. That makes about seven kids now. At this rate, I don't think the country's at risk for a low birth rate anymore with that woman."

"Come quickly," he heard a childlike-woman saying on a tape. "Come quickly. I'm scared. So cold… So cold… Please come get me. Hurry." Hirose-sensei frowned as a feeling of dread came over him.

"What are you listening to?" he asked. He walked over to the other side of the room. Chikako sat at her desk listening to the tape she found earlier. She looked like she was out in a daze. The coroner even mumbled along with the words.

"Don't let the devil get me," the voice on the tape said. Hirose-sensei hobbled over to his fledging and hit stop on the tape play as fast as he could. Chikako snapped out of it and turned her head.

"Hirose-sensei?" she asked. Her mentor ripped the tape out of the tape player and stomped on it as fast as he could. Chikako gave him a blank stare.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Hirose-sensei finally stopped and panted.

"Where did you get this tape?!" he asked.

"Uh… I found it on the floor over there," she said, pointing near the exit. Her mentor sighed and threw back his head.

* * *

Both Chikako and Hirose-sensei stood on the roof of the police station. The other man trembled under the gray clouds.

"You do remember the Isobe murders, don't you?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. "I was only about four or five at the time."

"But you've heard the stories, yes?"

"Yeah."

Hirose-sensei sighed. "Ever since that case, strange things have been happening. Too many people have gone missing because of it." He looked out the city below.

"I don't understand," Chikako said. Her mentor looked over his shoulder.

"Understand what?" he asked. His fledging looked down at her hands.

"None of it makes any sense," she admitted. "I've looked over my notes many times. There are several pieces don't make any sense. I know it shouldn't mean anything, but something inside of me won't stop nagging at me." Hirose-sensei shook his head.

"You are just like Detective Asari," he said. Chikako tilted her head.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"Heh," he said. "He was before your time. Ambitious young detective. Had a strong sense of justice too. He got assigned to the case Isobe case. He found the older daughter's journal while searching the apartment. Shortly after reading it, he started getting strange phone calls."

"Was the tape the…?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Hirose-sensei sighed. "He didn't show up for work after that. A few of the boys went around to his apartment. They found him pinned to the ceiling dead."

"How?"

"We still couldn't figure it out. He's not been the only one to die because of this case either."

"What?" Chikako asked.

"Since then, everyone that has come to live in apartment 27 in Kinko Sekai Apartment Complex has either gone insane, missing or wound up dead," Hirose-sensei said. "Before he died, Detective Asari believed that there was something bigger at work." The older coroner clutched his cane with his shaking hand.

"Don't get involved," he said. "Walk away while you still can." Hirose-sensei held out the crushed tape.

"What are you going to do?" his fledging asked.

"I'm going to destroy again," the older coroner said. "I did this before. Six years, in a fire, on the side of a mountain." Chikako watched as he walked away.

* * *

Later that evening, Chikako looked over the archived files about the Isobe murders. The victims were fifteen-year-old Isobe Hisayo and six-year-old Isobe Toshiko. The older sister's body was found in a clear tarp in the ceiling of her bedroom. The autopsy report revealed that she had been beaten and stabbed. Hisayo's right ankle was twisted and her neck broken. The most telling of injuries was a long, deep cut in her stomach. Meanwhile, Toshiko had gone missing and since hadn't been found to this day. Who couldn't done such a thing? The culprit turned out to be their mother, Asuka. Speaking of which, she was found dead on the Mutsumata-rikkyo Overpass. Her toxicology came back positive with high concentration of sleeping pills. It was on clear if that was the cause of death.

Chikako froze when the lights flickered.

"Hm?" she asked. The room suddenly felt cold.

"Hello?" the coroner asked. Chikako stood up and looked out into the hallway. She didn't notice the blackened school girl standing in the corner of the office when she walked out of the room. The coroner walked outside of the police station. That same chill down her body caused her to look up. Chikako saw several shadowy figures that looked like human-shaped floating in the sky. The sight of them made her stomach turn. She began to remember a time with her father when she was eight years old. He carried around this drunk-looking woman on his shoulders. Her nails dug deep into his shoulders. But, nobody else saw this woman, except for Chikako herself.

The floating shadow-like figures weren't alone, though.

Chikako noticed a dragon flying by in the sky. But it wasn't the silvery one covered in many eyes as she started to seeing as of late. This dragon was dark red with religious symbols covering its body. The sight of this dragon made her heart jump into her throat.

* * *

Across the street, Kaori watched Chikako through her black and gold binoculars. Bakeneko sat around her feet.

"Uh-oh," she said. "Coroner lady knows too much…"

* * *

In the skies, Henshuubyou stood in his human form, waiting. His light blue suit didn't have his many eyes. No, his eyes were hidden in his skin under his clothes. He turned when he heard footsteps approaching him. Immediately, his eyes lit up.

"Fukan'yo?" he asked. "Brother?" A man with a similar suit stood inches away from him. Henshuubyou smiled at the red silk clinging to his skin.

"Brother, it's you!" he said. The dragon walked over and hugged the older man.

"I missed you!" he said. "Where are our other brothers?" Fukan'yo embraced his younger brother.

"Soon," he whispered. "They will be reunited with us soon." Henshuubyou closed his eyes and embraced the long lost warmth of his brother.


	18. Mari

Halo Seventeen: Mari:

Mari sat at her computer, typing. Izaya's apartment wasn't the ideal place to work, but it sure beat working in the basement of Rampo Biotech. He wasn't home right now. The information broker gave her a copy of his key around Christmas time. They started to trust each other enough to let down their guards. But, she knew that she would have to get him out of Ikebukuro even more than ever.

Mari turned her head when she heard one of the doors down the hall opening. Aoba slumped over the door frame, panting. The programmer gave him a sympathetic look. He over here practically every night.

"Are you okay?" Mari asked. Aoba looked at her and groaned. He dragged himself over to the table and took a seat.

"That bad?" she asked.

"Spare me, will ya?" Aoba asked. Mari could understand his pain. Kururi acted downright bitchy towards her when Izaya wasn't around. Right now, his younger sister was still sleeping in bed. Mari closed her laptop lid and joined the boy at the table.

"Look," she said. "I know that she can be a bit of a nightmare, but I heard she used to be a sweet kid. I guess it's because Izaya was all that she had while they were growing up." Aoba looked up at her, sneering. Did she even know what she was talking about?

"Good morning!" they heard from the hallway. Mari and Aoba turned to see Kururi standing in the entry in nothing but a black lace gown. She walked over and put her arms around her "boyfriend's" shoulders.

"Babe, you should've woken me up if you were going to leave," she said. She kissed him on the cheek. Aoba forced himself to smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he lied. Kururi looked up at Mari and her cheerful demeaner changed into an icy one.

"Oh, you're still here?" she asked. "Don't you have work to do or something?"

"Uh, yeah…" Mari said. "I do, actually."

"So why are you still here?" Kururi asked. "Shouldn't you be at work, oh I don't know, working?"

"Stop," Aoba mouthed at her. Since when did she get this catty? Mari didn't even blink.

"This place is much better because it's warmer and quieter," she said. "Besides, your brother doesn't mind if I work in his apartment if I need to." Kururi's nails dug into Aoba's back as she gritted her teeth. Mari picked up her laptop and carried it over to the living room. She could hold her own against her highness Kururi just fine. She has if she's going to try and save Izaya from dying again.

* * *

Mikage rubbed her forehead. What was with all of these weird visions that she had been having lately? Blood all over the dojo floor. She wasn't sure whose it was or how it happened. The dojo master could've she was seeing dead bodies all over the place. She remembered seeing one leaned up against the wall with no head or hands and stripped naked. This was had to be a man, but Mikage couldn't identify who it was. Another one hung from the ceiling. This one looked like a woman. But, none of those made any sense.

That wasn't the only thing on her mind too.

"Why do I get the feeling there was something that I had to do?" Mikage asked herself. She began to see the lower part of a woman's face. She couldn't hear her voice, but she was pleading with her to help her. Did it have something to do with what she was supposed to do?

"Mikage!" Eijirou called from the back.

"Yeah?" she asked. Mikage slowly backed out the dojo part. Meanwhile, Tiresias' pin gathered the energy coming from the dojo.

* * *

Aoba had to swallow his pride twice today.

"Why do you want to know about before my sister was born?" Izaya asked.

"No reason," Aoba lied. He wasn't sure if should go ahead and tell him the edited version of the story. Everyone the boy asked didn't know who Mairu was anymore. Kururi's little posse treated like a joke. Despite all of that, Aoba still had a faint shimmer of hope that a least one person could remember who the lost twin was. Izaya could remember Mairu and just be pretending not to. But what sense would that make? Izaya narrowed his eyes at him.

"Why should I help you at all?" he asked. Aoba puffed up his cheeks.

"Don't you find it suspicious that Kururi-chan has been acting like this?" he asked.

"Not really," Izaya said. "She's always been like that."

"No she hasn't," Aoba said. "The Kururi-chan I knew wore gym clothes to school. She was quiet and shy, but mischievous at the same time. Those annoying girls she hangs with bullied her. I do not like what she has turned into. This is not the Kururi-chan I know. She was never a total bitch."

"I'd appreciate if you didn't call my sister a bitch," Izaya said with an edge to his voice. Aoba took in a deep breath.

"Just tell me what happened to Mairu before she was born." he said.

"What if I don't feel like it?" Izaya held up a hand, shrugging. "You were rather rude." The former founder of the Blue Squares gritted his teeth. He mumbled something under his breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," the information broker said. Aoba repeated his words again.

"What was that?" Izaya asked again. "You're talking too soft. Could you kindly speak up?"

"I said that I was sorry!" the former founder of the Blue Squares shouted with a red face. "I'm sorry, god damn it! I didn't mean to call your sister a bitch! Could you please tell me what happened to Mairu?!" The boy fell to his knees. Izaya couldn't help but to smirk.

"Well, since you asked nicely, I'll help you out," he said. "But you will have to do something for me in return." The boy's eyes widened. He should've expected as much. But, it still felt like getting kicked in the nuts.

That wasn't the only time Aoba would have to swallow his pride. His still had another little problem on his hands.

Aoba looked at his phone. How humiliating that he would resort to this. Still, Kaori persisted in her campaign to make his life miserable until he backed off of Chirin, whoever he was. At this rate, someone would probably find his body in a ditch somewhere.

Aoba puffed up his cheeks and made the call.

"Hello, Aniki," he said. "It's me, I need your help…"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Ran asked on the other line.

"The Blue Squares are dead," his brother said.

"So?"

"You could be next. I keep getting attacked by everyone from different gangs. I don't want to be killed. We need to come together."

"Are you saying you want me to your ass?"

It felt so painful for Aoba to actually come out and say it. "Yes. I am scared for my life right now. Please, I will do anything."

"Anything?" Ran's tone of voice raised when he asked that question. Aoba felt like throwing up.

"Yes," he said reluctantly. Already, he began to regret this idea.

"I'll think about it," Ran said before he hung up. Aoba stared at his phone and cringed. Two pacts with the devil in the same day. He had sunken that low.

* * *

Mari plugged in the last code of the first part of the Dis Program. She lowered her head and started to laugh.

"I did it!" she said. "Part one is finally done!" Five weeks came to this small victory. But, she wouldn't get time to celebrate. Mari lifted her head when she heard her laptop beeping.

"Huh?" she asked. Somehow after hitting enter, the newly decoded piece of the program opened a browser and started to upload itself to the internet.

"What the…?!" Mari said. She started mashing keys to get the upload task to abort, but it was too late. "Upload complete" her screen read. An image of a clock popped up on the screen. Right away, it began counting down.

"What the hell is this?" Mari asked. Through all of the loops that this city had been in, she had never seen this happen before. Watching the numbers counting down on the screen became a reminder of what was going to happen to Izaya if she didn't get him out of the city in time. Suddenly, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Mari asked in a trembling voice.

"Mari!" Aya said on the other line. "Good job on decoding the first part of the Dis Program."

"W-W-What did I just unleash online?" her daughter asked.

"A clock."

"I can see that, but what is it counting down to?"

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"This clock will count down to the end of our game."

Mari should've expected that answer. Of course it tied back to this stupid game her mother and the rest of Tandeki refused to give up. The programmer intern pushed her dark black bangs from her forehead. "And how do I stop this clock?"

"You don't," Aya said. Mari paused with her hand on the mouse.

"That can't be right," she said. "Every program has a stop code to it." Her mother laughed on the other line.

"Oh, my naïve little daughter," she said. "This is a  _special_  type of program."

"What does that mean?" Mari asked as her eyes shifted back and forth.

"Why don't you go ahead and decode the rest to see?" Aya asked. She hung up before her daughter could ask any more questions.

"Mom?" Mari asked. She looked at her phone and huffed. "Now what?" It was then, she became aware that she wasn't alone in the kitchen. Mari turned her head to see Kururi standing in the doorway, frowning at her.

"Oh, Kururi," she said. "When did you come back here?" The teenaged girl folded her arms across her chest.

"We have to talk," she said in a stern. Mari blinked at her.

"Huh?" she asked. Kururi walked over to the table and took a seat.

"What do you really think you are trying to play here?" she asked.

"E-Excuse me?" the programmer asked.

"Oh, come off it! I see the way you look at nii-san. You think just because you are sleeping with him, you'll change him? Don't make me laugh."

"It's not even like that!" Mari was quick to say. Kururi raised her eyebrow.

"I don't know what sort of game you're playing with nii-chan, but I know what a scheming woman looks like," she said.

"What are you talking about?!" the programmer asked as she made a strange face. The teenaged girl leaned forward, narrowing her eyes.

"You might think you can save him from whatever you think that he needs saving from," she said. "You just keep this in mind: you will never be number one in his life. You just Nii-san's booty call." Mari's face became bright red.

"What Izaya and I do is none of your business!" she shouted. Kururi smirked just like her brother.

"So you're on a first name basis now?" she asked. Mari rolled her eyes and closed up her laptop.

"I do not have time for this," she muttered. The programmer packed up her things and walked out of the apartment.

"Yeah, that's right!" Kururi shouted after her. "Run away from the truth!" The front door slammed closed in response.

* * *

After wandering around the streets of Ikebukuro and wrestling with herself on what to do next, Mari found herself standing in front of Rakuei Gym. She drew in a deep breath as she realized that it came to that point. But would she even remember the promise they made each other? At that moment, Mikage had just come outside when she stopped the programmer. Both women laid eyes on each other.

"It's you," Mikage said. Mari bowed as fast as she could.

"I really need your help!" she blurted out. "Izaya's in serious danger!" The programmer glanced up and did a quick study of the gym instructor's face. The lack of expression sent her into a panic. Mikage tilted her head.

"You've said this before, haven't you?" she asked. Mari stood up straight.

"Yes," she said.

"Is he still alive?" Mikage asked.

"As of right now, yes," the programmer said. The gym instructor turned towards and motioned her inside.

"Come inside," she said.

"Thank you," Mari said, bowing again. She followed Mikage into the gym. Meanwhile, Tiresias' pin started to turn a light powder blue.


	19. Girls

Halo Eighteen: Girls:

Tadpole girls are wired differently than their male counterparts. On the surface, they look the same. But after going through the notes and running more tests, Shingen and Emilia began to see exactly how different.

"What do you notice about each of these samples, Emilia?" Shingen asked. His wife took a look at each of the charts.

"Oh my!" she said. "How is this even possible?"

"I don't really know yet," the older doctor replied. "They've probably noticed it themselves." Already, the couple had more tests lined up. Whether this was intentional or a happy accident, that's not clear enough to be certain. Shingen, Emilia, and the rest of Nebula had to find out. Meanwhile, the Tadpole Branch worked on new drugs for the new augmentations for both the males and females.

-Emily-

Name: Akimoto Emily

Power: Commands Taiyou

She was the first one to experience her awakening. Emily sat in the mirror, brushing her hair. The tadpole glanced behind her to see Taiyou sitting in the corner. On day one once she got over the initial shock, Emily laid down three rules for her new familiar.

"You are not allowed in my room when I am changing clothes," she told him. "You are now allowed to be in the bathroom with me. And please do not go into my school." She stared him down as she sat on her bed. This tall samurai-looking man in all-white fixed his gaze on her. The poor girl made up the excuse that she was too sick to go to school. Emily stayed locked up in her room as she tried to figure out what to do with her newly "awakened" powers. Now, the tadpole girl puffed up her cheeks.

"Yes, Emily-sama," Taiyou said, bowing. His master rubbed her forehead.

"You don't have to call me, '-sama,'" she said. "Just my name would be fine."

"Yes, Emily-sama," her spirit familiar repeated. The tadpole girl sighed as she guested that was the only thing he wasn't going to stop doing. Emily waved him off as she shook her head.

"Forget I said that," she said.

"Yes, Emily-sama," Taiyou said, bowing. Something told her that she would have to "train" a little bit to get him to not be so proper all of the time.

"Emily, who are you talking to?" her mom asked. The girl froze and turned around to her closed bedroom door.

"Uh… No one!" she was quick to say. "I was just… reading something aloud for homework!" Emily prayed that her mother wouldn't ask any more questions or come up to her room to check on her. She wasn't ready to explain to her mom who the strange samurai-looking man was and what he was doing in her room.

"Could you please do it quietly?" her mom asked. "I can barely hear the TV." Emily breathed out.

"Okay," she said. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay, honey," her mom said. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

"Alright," Emily said. She turned back to Taiyou.

"Please stay in here when I go down to eat dinner," the tadpole girl whispered. "I promise I will bring you back something to eat."

"Yes, Emily-sama," Taiyou replied. His master threw back her head and groaned.

Even today, Emily doesn't get him. He still follows her around everywhere she goes. He sits out in the hall when she's in the bathroom or changing clothes. When she was in school, Taiyou waited for her at the school gates. He followed any command he gave her. But, Emily still couldn't figure him out. She never saw him eat or sleep.

"Do you have to follow every command I give you?" Emily asked on her bed this morning.

"Yes, my lady," Taiyou said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I was born from your soul," he said, bowing. "I follow your every command."

"But I don't know much about you," Emily said. "You barely eat or sleep at all. What do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?" he asked.

"Yeah, what do you like to do for fun?" she asked. "Do you like to read?"

"To read?"

"Do you like to play games?"

"I don't know."

"Do you like classical music?"

"I don't know."

"What kind of music do you like?"

"I don't know."

"What's your favorite food?"

"I don't know."

"What's your favorite drink?"

"I don't know."

"What don't you like?"

"I don't know."

Emily rubbed her forehead. How many months had they been together? Looks like she would have some work to do. Emily reached over to her nightstand and pulled out her iPod.

"I made a playlist of music for you," she said. "It's mostly classical music. Please listen to it and tell me what you think."

"Yes, my lady," Taiyou said, bowing. Emily shrugged it off again. She couldn't break him of his speaking habits, but she could at least give him somewhat of a personally if he was going to serve her for the rest of her life. That alone wasn't going to be easy.

-Nami-

Name: Shono Nami

Power: Water

She's had Kohaku at her side even before they were forced into hell. Her friend has followed her lead. Nami had to be the one in control to her meek friend. But, who was going to be the one to take care of her?

Nami leaned against a brick wall in an alley. She let her mind wander off to her future.  _I'm going to have this weird powers for the rest of my life_ , Nami thought. She looked down at her hands. The bubbles forming under her skin didn't shock her as much anymore. At least, the tadpole didn't have to worry about flooding any room that she was in. That didn't change all of the lying that she would have to do for her mother. Nami shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Not like that woman really cared. Her mother was probably off enjoying her new boyfriend like she always was. The water tadpole sighed and shook her head.

"What does it matter anymore?" she asked herself. Nami paused when she heard something sniffing around. The girl turned her head.

A small Kishu puppy walked the alley sniffing the ground. Right away, Nami fell in love. She walked over to the little dog.

"Hey there," she said. "Aren't you a little cutie?" The puppy looked at her with his big brown eyes.

_Excuse me, I'm so thirty._

Nami gasped.  _Did I just hear a puppy's thoughts?_  The water tadpole looked around before she looked at the little puppy. His little eyes begged her to help him out. Nami smiled and dropped her shoulders.

"Why not?" she asked. The tadpole girl held up her hand over the little puppy. Her new friend's little tongue flicked back and forth to catch all of the little drops falling down. Nami began to smile.

"You like that, huh?" she asked. The puppy drank up the little drops falling from her hand. Nami herself felt so warm for a change. When was the last time other than Kohaku when she found a real friend? She drew back her hand when the dog finished drinking her water.

_Thank you so much._

"You're welcome," Nami said. Then an idea came into her head.

"Say, would you like to come home with me?" she asked. The puppy's ears perked up as he stared barking. Nami could've sworn she could hear angels singing at that response.

"Well, okay," she said. Nami picked up the little puppy and carried him off with her. Her new friend rested his head against her side.

_You're a nice lady._

Nami pet the little puppy on the head.

-Kohaku-

Name: Kimio Kohaku

Power: "Eats" sins of people

She peeked into the nurse's office at her school. Kohaku held her breath and knocked on the door. The school nurse looked up.

"Oh, Kimio-chan, you're still here?" she asked. Kohaku lowered her head.

"Yeah," she mumbled. Her eyes stayed focused on the nurse's right shoulder. On the day of her awaking, Kohaku saw a small white shadowy figure on her beloved nurse's shoulder. Only the eyes and mouth were as black as coal. It opened its mouth like a hungry fish. The way it stared at her crept her out.

"Is something the matter?" the nurse asked. How many times had Kohaku tried to do this? Three of her classmates were much happier because of her. So why couldn't she bring herself to do the same for the school nurse that would help her not to go home? Kohaku pressed her lips together.

"Uh… well…" she mumbled. The tadpole girl looked and saw that little creature on the nurse's shoulder again. She knew that it could see her. This creature was why the nurse looked like she wanted to cry when Kohaku came to visit her. The girl did ask her one day before her awakening.

"It's nothing," the nurse would say. "It just an old pain that will stay with me forever." Today, Kohaku decided to do something about it. She walked up to her beloved school nurse.

"Kimio-chan?" the nurse asked. Kohaku reached out her hand towards the nurse's shoulder. Her fingers closed around the creature.

"What are you…?" the nurse began to ask. Her whole body went limp in her chair. Only Kohaku could hear the creature screaming under her hand. She closed her eyes and began to see its true nature. A baby's cry filled her ears.  _What am I going to do? My parents would disown me if they found out._  Kohaku didn't let up and the last of the creature disappeared into her hand. The skin on her palm rippled for three minutes before going still. Kohaku drew back her hand and looked at the school nurse. The woman slumped back in her chair, panting.

"I am sorry that I had that abortion," she said in a small voice. A tear ran down her cheek. Kohaku reached over and wiped it away.

"It's okay now," she whispered. But when Kohaku turned and looked in the mirror, a terrifying site caught her eye.

-Akiko-

Name: Koike Akiko

Power: Mind control

She waits for the footsteps to come again. Every month, she has to do this. Why doesn't she go ahead and make things easier by using her power more often? Akiko asks herself the same question.

There comes a knock on her door.

"Koike-san!" the landlord's voice shouted. "Open up, I am here to collect your bill!" The tadpole girl stood up and walked over to the front door. A man in his early forties stood in the outside with an envelope in his hand. Akiko frowned when she saw him.

"Oh," she said. "It's you." He gave her a calm smile.

"You know I have to do this," the landlord said. "If you are struggling with your bills, you can always ask a family member for help." Akiko all but snorted at the suggestion.

"I told you that I can't do that," she said. The landlord sighed.

"You know the rules, Koike-chan," he said.

"Yes, I do," she said. "Now, could you please go away and don't bother me about the rent for the next six months." The landlord's eyes went blank.

"Yes, Koike-chan," he said. The middle-aged man turned and walked away. Akiko shook her head and closed the door. She leaned against the wood and sighed. The tadpole barely had enough money to cover rent given her situation. Like hell she would ever good home and ask for help. The last thing she wanted was to go back under the thumb of that woman again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by five knocks on the wooden floor. Akiko forced herself to smile.

"Yeah, I got rid of him," she said. "For six months this time." The tadpole wondered why she didn't try and change how she did things in her home. Maybe there was something tell her that she would be pushing it with her powers. Still, Akiko used them daily and they seemed be getting stronger. She heard six knocks on the floor.

"Okay, okay," the tadpole girl said. "I'll go and get breakfast ready." Akiko turned and headed for the kitchen. Still, this would do for now. After all, she had managed to survive on her own without that woman butting into her life. It wouldn't hurt to do it a little bit longer until she had a permanent plan to work with.

-Midori-

Name: Amano Midori

Power: Controls time

She flipped her pencil on her desk. Midori's eyes trailed up to the ceiling. Her parents still asked her about her well-being. It sucked that she would have to lie to them. Her classmates and professors were one thing. They weren't related by blood. As if on cue, her phone rang.

"Hi, mom," Midori said.

"How did you do that?" her mother asked. "How did you know it was me?"

"You having always been calling me on Sundays," her daughter said.

"How have you been?"

"I'm doing good as always." Usually they would descend into boring chit-chat about daily life. Her mother talked about her neighbors while Midori talked about school. But, this evening, both had heavy questions to ask.

"Midori-chan," her mother said.

"Yeah?" the time tadpole asked.

"What would you say if I started dating again?" her mother asked. Her daughter about fell out of her chair.

"What?!" Midori shouted. "When did this happen?"

"It hasn't happened yet. I met someone at work about two weeks ago and we have been getting close. He's geeky, but pretty cute in a strange way."

"Is he nice?"

"Yes."

Midori pushed her black bangs away from her forehead. "What do you want, mom?"

"I don't really know… I haven't been on a date in years," her mother confessed. The time tadpole smiled.

"Mom, you don't need my approve for things," she said. "If you want to ask him out, go for it."

"Thanks, honey," her mother said. Midori lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together. Her question just came out without any thought behind it.

"Mom, if I changed in any way that was terrifying, would you still love me?" she asked.

"Of course I would, honey," her mother said. "Why would you ask?" Midori felt like crying now.

"Goodbye, mom," she said. The time tadpole hung up before her mom could ask any more questions.

-Anzu-

Name: Oshima Anzu

Power: Unknown

She sat in Shinra and Celty's apartment all wired up. It was Anzu's turn to be subjected to the new tests conducted by Nebula. Emilia put on the final touches.

"Everything's ready, dear," she said. Shingen stuck up his thumb. Anzu's eyes shifted back and forth.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

"We just want to see what your powers are," Shingen said with a chart in his hand. Anzu tilted her head.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Why yes," Emilia said. The tadpole had a calm expression on her face.

"May I have a knife?" she asked.

"A knife, what for?" the researcher woman asked.

"You want to see my powers, right?" Anzu asked. "Then please get me a knife." Emilia turned to her husband. Shingen nodded once.

"Alright, hang on," his wife said. Emilia walked into the kitchen. She returned with a kitchen knife in her hand.

"Thank you," Anzu said. She took the knife and slit her left arm from wrist to elbow. Emilia covered her mouth, gasping.

"It's okay," the tadpole said. She stood up and reached into the fresh cut. Anzu clenched her teeth as she drew out a bloody sword the size of Saika. The tadpole stumbled around as she panted. The numbers on Emilia's tablet spiked.

"This is what I can do," Anzu said once she got her breath back. Emilia reached out to touch the blade of the blood sword.

"Don't!" Anzu shouted. "It's just as sharp as any real sword."

"How long does it stay like that?" Shingen asked.

"I don't know," the test subject said. "I try not to use it so much. It puts strain on my body and I end up feeling anemic." The couple looked intrigued at these new revelations.

"Looks like we'll have to get started on all of the tests!" Shingen said. Anzu slumped back into her seat. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

-Madoka-

Name: Kurosawa Madoka

Power: Powerful eyesight

She looked down at her red-framed glasses. By now, Madoka had no choice but to try and get used to her powerful eyes. She didn't want to have to see everything all the time. But, it beat being dizzy with headaches all the time.

"Bye-bye," Madoka said before putting her glasses away in her desk drawer. With a heavy heart, she slid it closed. Now what? All of her admirers would comment on what beautiful grey-brown eyes she had. Naturally, they would ask where her glasses were. A little lie about them being broken would hold them over for the time being. But, that still didn't fix the other problems she still had.

Madoka still couldn't remember all of her time at Chou Mori. The year she turned eight was only in fragments. Her grandmother didn't want to talk about it to her. Her grandfather, on the other hand, itched to say something to her about that year. He never got the chance due to becoming so ill that he had to go away in a nursing home for extra care.

The tadpole pushed her dark brown bangs from her forehead. Midori had been the only one her age willing to talk to her when she needed an ear to talk into. The women had become closer, but she didn't see them as friends just yet. They were just pushed together due to the situation that they were forced in. If things were normal, Madoka and Midori would probably never cross paths. Still, all of the tadpoles needed someone to latch onto to keep them grounded. Mikado had Masaomi. Tetsu had Taichi. Nami and Kohaku appeared to be close. Maybe Madoka and Midori could form a friendship like that until they all could figure out how to get out of this hell.

That was another thing.

None of them could get rid of these "gifts" that Tandeki oh so gleefully "gifted" them with. Madoka shuddered at the thought of being with this powerful eyesight for the rest of her life. It didn't help to have heightened senses either. Another trait that freaked her out was that she found herself so hungry all of the time. No matter how much she ate, the tadpole found that herself wanting to eat more food. All of her admirers started to make lunches just for her. It crept Madoka out, but she would eat them all with a smile.

"You really do know how to put that bento away," one of her classmates commented. Madoka didn't want to be seen as a pig to her friends. Sadly, her body demanded to be fed no matter what. Stranger still was that she didn't seem to gain a single pound. The tadpole looked up at the ceiling. She wondered if any of her "brothers and sisters" were experiencing the same thing. With that thought, Madoka looked up when she heard her cell phone buzz. She grabbed it and looked at the screen. One new text from Midori.

"Meet up at Russia Sushi," it said. With that, Madoka jumped up and shoved her phone into her bag. She walked out the door without a single thought.

-Megumi-

Name: Fukao Megumi

Power: Enslaving/Killing lovers through sex

All of the tadpole girls sat around a table at Russia Sushi with their eyes on her. They all had been trading stories about what they could remember from their time at Chou Mori. Anzu had just wrapped up her story. Kohaku had her eyes on Megumi.

"Why did you get committed?" she asked in a tiny voice. The newest girl in their group sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I've got no choice, do I?" she asked.

"It's only fair," Midori said. "We all shared our stories." Megumi put down her hand. She swirled around her half-empty cup.

"Fine," she said. "I lived a great life with just Daddy, our next-door neighbor, and myself. Mom died after I was born. Daddy gave me everything that I wanted. He was great at doing my hair too." Megumi frowned before finishing off her tea.

"Everything was going great until Daddy married that bitch," she said.

"A step-mother from Hell?" Akiko asked as her interest peeked.

"More or less," Megumi said. "She was a total bitch. She tried to control me. We fought all of the time. That bitch went through my clothes and things. She would spy on all of my boyfriends. She even tried to take away my cell phone."

"Sounds to me she was just being a parent," Midori said. Megumi cut her a cold glare.

"Daddy and our neighbor were already doing a good job with that," she said. "She just had to come along and screw everything up. Anyway, things got worse when we moved to Ikebukuro."

"Where did you come from originally?" Nami asked.

"Osaka," Megumi said. "I was so mad that she took me away from our dear neighbor. By the time I was eighteen, I had enough. So, I plotted regret." The newest tadpole leaned in with a smirk on her face.

"Bitch-face had a son from a previous marriage," she said. "Oh, he was so gorgeous! Because he was so hot and he was her precious son, I just had to have him."

"You didn't!" Madoka said.

"I did," Megumi said, flipping back her shoulder-length dark brown hair. "I seduced and we started sleeping together regularly. Hey, he was just that hot. But then, Bitch-face caught us in her bed one night. I turned to her with a smirk on my face. I hurt her, I hurt her good." The woman frowned.

"Who knew she would ship me off to 'reform school' the next day?" she asked. Megumi reached over and poured herself more tea as the other girls sat quiet.

-Riku-

Name: Ishii Riku

Power: Unknown

On Monday, Shinra and Shingen tracked down the next tadpole. According to the records, she lived in the richer part of Shinjuku. Father and son came up to the apartment. Shinra turned to Shingen.

"Here?" he asked.

"That's correct," Shingen said. The younger doctor turned back to the door.

"Okay," he said. Shinra knocked on the door. A deep brown eye peeked out from the crack of the open door.


	20. Origin

Halo Nineteen: Origin:

The whole game began at Chou Mori Institution. Today, the place stands outside of Ikebukuro empty. The crumbling walls remind those who visit it of the horrors that went on inside. Rumors float around that it is haunted. Curious ghost hunters have reported strange activity when they snoop around Chou Mori.

But, what's the real story behind this form mental institution of horrors? We need to go back to 1965 to get the whole story.

It's true that Genji Kozue founded Chou Mori in the summer of 1965. But then, it started out as a place of good intentions. Genji wanted to create a safe harbor for the mentally ill. Japan appeared to pretend that mental illness wasn't real. Society would just write them off and forget that they existed. Most of the sick ended up on the streets or dead with nowhere else to go. This wasn't sitting well with Genji-san and he sought to change this. He used most of his wealth to buy 633.913 acres out near Aokigahara forest in the winter of 1962. From the ground up, Chou Mori Institution was born. On July 29th, 1965, the Institution opened its doors.

In the beginning, Chou Mori had well intentions. Genji-san dreamed for this place to help cure the mentally ill and reintroduce them into society. Not only would the patients had the proper treatment that they needed, they could get and education and learn a few skills to help them find a job once they got out. He employed the best of the best with psychiatrists, doctors, nurses, and teachers. For five years, it became nationally renowned leader in mental health care. Many families placed their trust and their loved ones in the care of Genji-san and his well-trained staff. In those short five years, he saw his dream come to life.

But then, Genji-san mysteriously died on July 10th, 1970. The official cause of death was listed as heart disease. Those who knew him well didn't believe it for one second. Some even suspected that he was poisoned. But, what was the motive? Almost all of Genji-san's money went into Chou Mori. His son and his daughter only stood to gain one percent of the fortune. For the most part, everyone only accepted the cause of the death. Genji-san was cremated after his funeral and his son, Ken, took over Chou Mori. Sadly, he found himself in over his head. His father left him with two major problems to sort out. To his horror, Ken learned that Chou Mori was close to bankruptcy.

"How did this happen?!" he asked. The employees couldn't come up with an answer. For they had another problem on their hands. Chou Mori became a dumping ground for Japan's "undesirables". Before the beginning of June, the institution became overrun with many patients. Most of them weren't there because they were truly mentally ill. Some were there because they were labelled as criminally insane. Physically disabled ended up here as well. Even a handful of them were homeless. Pretty much if society labelled them as an outcast, they ended up here. Ken couldn't turn them away. He made a promise to his father that he would keep his vision alive. But where was he going to get the money?

One year later, Ken had no choice but to sell Chou Mori to cut his losses. This wouldn't be the last time the institution would change hands. Before it was closed, ownership of Chou Mori would change hands at least eight times. The most common reason was money. Ever since Genji-san's death, his baby had been rumored to be a giant money pit. Most of the owners struggled to keep the institution up and running, but ended up losing money in the end. With financial troubles, patient care suffered too. Chou Mori ended up with the highest staff change in all of Japan. The new boss couldn't afford proper care and supplies like Genji-san back in the late sixties. As a result, they started to cut corners on everything.

This is where the heart of darkness truly began for Tandeki and two of their projects.

-Clumsy Beginning-

The blueprints for Project Tadpole began in later 1987. The actual project itself began in 1989. Before then, Kitano Katsuhiro joined Chou Mori Institution in the spring of 1985. He was thirty-eight at the time and had quit his job at Tokyo Medical University three years earlier. Since that time, he Kitano was building up his career as a psychiatrist. His colleagues couldn't understand what he was doing here in a sinking ship of a mental hospital.

"Why did you quit such a secure and cushy job?" one of his new colleagues asked.

"I lost interest," Kitano said, looking out the window.

"Huh?" the colleague asked.

"Medicine will grow and change, just without me to be there," the former doctor said. He turned around when he heard the other therapist chuckle.

"May I ask what is so funny?" Kitano asked.

"I don't know why you would come here of all places," the colleague said. "Chou Mori has changed management again three years ago. This boss is really a tight-ass. The pay sucks here. Most psychiatrists quit within six months. And don't get me started on the patients here."

"The head came to me personally," the new therapist answered. His colleague whistled.

"Wow," he said. "They really are desperate."

"I guess so," Kitano said.

Just like at Tokyo Medical University, Kitano kept to himself. He focused on his patients. But, the director of the institution sensed that something was missing from his new hire. The therapist took care of the patients, but it felt more robotic. He didn't really engage the patients. There was just no heart in his work.

On New Year's Day, the director called Kitano into his office.

"You wanted to see me?" the therapist asked. The director laced his fingers together.

"I have a new patient for you to take care of," he said. "Her husband will bring her in tomorrow. She's suffering from depression after the death of their infant son." Kitano didn't even blink.

"Yes sir," he said.

"You will be working with her pro bono," the director added. The therapist narrowed his eyes.

"Pro bono, sir?" he asked.

"Yes," his boss said. "Consider this a little protect to boost your motivation. You appear to have no heart in your work."

"No heart, sir?"

"Do you even remember your patients names?"

"No, sir."

"This is part of your problem. You don't connect with your patients. I talked with your old boss back at Tokyo Medical over Christmas and he said the same thing." The director clicked his pen closed.

"I will have the other therapists here tend to your patients for the time being," he added. "You just focus on this one patient until she gets better." Despite his own objections to this, Kitano nodded.

"I understand, sir," he said.

The next day, Makoto dropped off his wife at Chou Mori. She wound up in the care of Kitano-sensei. The patient stared off into a daze for the first three days. She sat on her bed, motionless. Her therapist didn't try to approach her for the first five days. After a while, he decided to just go ahead to and start his therapy with her.

The first session didn't go so well. The patient only rambled on about God. Kitano let it go in one ear and out the other. God and religion meant nothing to him. His new patient looked like she would be another religious fruit cake who was suffering from depression over the loss of her son. But, he still had a job to do. Kitano half-listened, thinking that he would let the patient get it out of her system.

He realized that wasn't going to happen when she didn't stop talking about God, her husband, and her son.

"Tell me, why would God take your son?" he asked out of the blue on the sixth of February. The patient turned to him, wide-eyed. Kitano didn't know why he asked her that. Maybe it was to try and get her to stop talking about her god so much.

"What?" she asked.

"Why would God take your son?" Kitano asked again. "If he is so great and wonderful why would he do such a terrible thing?" This patient lowered her head and shook it. He eyed her, expecting her to crumble at day one. But then, he noticed her mumbling something to herself.

"Excuse me?" Kitano asked. He leaned in closer as this patient kept mumbling. The therapist could only catch a few words before he could contact that she was praying. To be exact, she was muttering something about the story Job from the Bible. Kitano sat back, furrowing his brow.

"I feel that God is testing me," the patient said.

"And why is that?" Kitano asked.

"I don't know," this patient said. She rested her head on the table. "I feel tired." Hearing her say that struck something inside of him. Looking at that patient with her head on the table told Kitano what he had to do.

I decided to try and kill her God.

Boy, did Kitano try. Day after day, he would bring this patient stories of human tragedy. He would ask her if God was loving and merciful then why would he let terrible things happen to people. The patient's answer was always the same.

"That's how he is," she would say. "We just have to believe in him." The more Kitano tried, the more the patient wouldn't give up her faith. In the end, he couldn't kill her God. The night before she left, Kitano sat in my office, brooding. No matter how hard he thought, he still couldn't figure her out. Something about her seemed off and not just her depression. This patient probably saw herself as a saint trying to atone for the death of her son. Nothing that the doctors said to her could reach her otherwise. The medications helped, but it didn't really fix the problem. Sure, she came out of her depression, but she still hung onto her God.

Kitano sat back and rubbed his forehead.

"Are you frustrated yet?" a voice asked in the dark.

Kitano lifted his head. The Woman in Red stood before him with more human-like face. Her bright red hair and kimono couldn't hide the wood-like skin on her body.

"Oh, it's you," the therapist said. "What do you mean am I frustrated?"

"Are you frustrated by that patient because of her faith? Frustrated because you couldn't kill her God? Frustrated because you can't understand her?" Her face came within inches of his. The psychiatrist gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists on his desk.

"Yes," Kitano said. "She agitates me so much. How can she hang onto her God after being depressed and losing her son? I don't get it. I just don't get it!"

The Woman in Red grinned at him like a wild kitsune.

"Then you are ready to free me," she said.

Kitano began working on his plan to free the Woman in Red. In between tending to his patients, he began his planning. As he worked and took notes, another thought came into his head. What would happen after the world ended? He wasn't going to be around to see it. So he resolved to create the perfect "witness" to the world's destruction. The Woman in Red wasn't too sure about this, but she let him go ahead and do it anyway.

"You're a strange man," she said.

The blueprints for Project Tadpole began in 1987. In the beginning, Kitano couldn't get his alpha drug off of the ground. The problem lay in his drug, Amaterasu. The psychiatrist dabbled in chemistry in his college years. He figured that he could still pull it off to set his plans in motion. But somehow, the formula for the alpha drug would go horribly wrong. The solution would start out good. But, it would just turn into weak liquid or coagulate into a chucky solid. This would not do. Kitano wanted a strong red fluid to be injected into the body. On his time away from work, he studied the formula over and over. Everything looked like it was correct, down to the tee.

Still, something was missing. Kitano couldn't figure it out.

"Do you give up?" the Woman in Red asked. The psychiatrist shook his head as he looked at the formula on his desk.

"No?" she asked.

"Whenever the human race runs into a brick wall in their path to their goals," Kitano said. "It's time to call in a new pair of eyes to help them see the problem they missed."

In 1989, Kitano put out an ad for a new research partner. He looked someone skilled in chemistry, hard-working, trustworthy, and committed to their work. Out of all of the applicants, only four of them stood out to him. Three men and one women. Kitano interviewed them all individually. He asked the questions and let them talk. The therapist studied them as they spoke. Two of the men were eliminated after two interview. It came down to the last man and the woman. Something about the woman held Kitano's attention.

"Please state your name again," he said on the third interview.

"Asato Etsuko," she said.

"I read your thesis on the Mnemosyne drug. What motived you to create this drug?"

"I had an interest in memory throughout high school. So, I decided that I would study the subject closely. Particularly what caused memory loss."

"I have read your thesis quite a number of times. The formula itself could use some polishing up, but I'm quite impressed with it."

"Thank you so much."

"May I ask you one more thing."

"Yes, sir?"

Kitano pulled out the notes for the Amaterasu drug. "What would you say was missing?"

Etsuko looked at the notes herself. Whether she can crack it or not would depend on her getting the job. Kitano watched as she studied the first page. Etsuko looked up at him.

"May I take this home with me to further study it?" she asked.

"Sure," Kitano said. "Do you have any questions?"

"Do you have a deadline for this?"

"No. Take your time if you need to. Call me when you have a solution."

"Give me ten days," Etsuko said. Kitano nodded, impressed.

"Alright," he said. "Thank you for your time." They bowed and parted ways.

Ten days later, Kitano's phone rang at home.

"Hello?" he asked.

"I've solved it!" Etsuko said on the other line. "I found out what was wrong with your formula." Kitano raised his eyebrow.

"Did you?" he asked.

"Where can we meet?" she asked. The therapist took a minute to think.

"How far away are you from the library?" he asked.

"About thirty minute," the doctor said.

"I will meet you there," Kitano said before hanging up. At the library, she showed him her improved version of the Amaterasu drug on the table. She pointed to a spot on the pattern.

"You had spot number four so weak," the doctor said. "Further down here, you used too iron here. And over here, you have two elements that aren't compatible with other. I took apart the formula and examined each piece. When I found out the damaged parts, I worked on each one to correct the errors." Kitano could only clap at her explanation.

"Wow," he said.

"What do you call this drug?" Etsuko asked.

"Amaterasu," Kitano answered.

"Hm, named after the goddess who gave us the sun over this land. I like it." Etsuko ended working with Kitano on the budding Tadpole Project. She arranged her work schedule to come and home at Chou Mori due to their constant shortage of doctors on staff.

Once Amaterasu was finally created, the experiments could begin.

-First Generation-

On August tenth, the first round of the Tadpole experiments began. They ran for about three years. Kitano and Etsuko didn't use animals. That was just boring to them. For better results, they needed humans. And what better test subject than the mental patients at Chou Mori Institution. Kitano was careful to select patients with no families or guardians to come around asking questions. Wards of the state never raised any questions. The first victims? A four-year-old pair of twins, one boy and one girl. The rest of the test subjects ranged from children to old people. Yes, Kitano and Etsuko were not afraid to use children in their experiments.

They wound up with fifty-six undesirables total.

Kitano and Etsuko all had them in the Guillotine Hill ward. Chou Mori wasn't using it anyway. There had been endless talks about closing it down. For now, this place would be perfect. Once the half-conscious patients were in their beds, the experiment began.

Kitano filled up fifty-six syringes with the thick deep red Amaterasu. He and Etsuko decided up the room and got to work. The therapist injected the twin boy while the doctor took care of the twin girl.

"How long do we give them?" Etsuko asked as groans started filling the room. Kitano didn't even blink.

"Three days tops," he said.

They kept the doors to the Guillotine Hill ward locked all those three days. It wasn't like most of the staff was going to care anyway. They already had to deal with money hemorrhaging out of Chou Mori and the other patients in the institution. Who's going to miss fifty-six patients groaning in pain? Speaking of which, the patients began have convulsions and vomiting on themselves. It didn't take like for Room B to smell of urine, feces, vomit, and blood. But being as Kitano and Etsuko had experience in the medical field, the smell didn't faze them at all.

"Don't worry," Kitano told them. "It's just the toxins leaving your body. You will feel better in a couple of days."

By day three, Etsuko unlocked the door. Thirty-two bodies lay in the beds. They looked all shriveled up and bone-skinny. Their skins looked a tanned hide. The teeth easily fell out while the eyes looked big and empty. Kitano looked into the eyes of one the dead test subjects.

"Most unfortunate mess we have here," he said. "How many do we have left alive?" Etsuko went around and did a count.

"Twenty-four," she said at last.

"And the twins?"

"Both of them are still alive."

"Both of them?"

"Yes."

Kitano began to smile like Lucifer. "Excellent. We shall examine the living and test the dead."

"And then what's next?" the doctor asked.

"You can work on the next drug while I come up with a way to get rid of the bodies once we finish the testing."

"What did you say?" she asked, tilting her head.

"You are going to work on the beta drug in this project," Kitano repeated. "You did such a good job fixing Amaterasu. I can trust you with the second drug."

"I understand," Etsuko said.

Amaterasu turned out to be quite the tricky drug. The trick to the host surviving it was the genetics. But, Kitano couldn't exactly pin down which times. The survival rate of his alpha drug turned out to be fifty percent. The patient would either live after three days or be just as good as dead. Those who died ended up looking mummified with their internal organs turning liquified.

"Ew," Kitano mumbled as he looked into the twenty-eighth body. Once he made the notes, he had to get rid of the bodies. Looking, the first generation left so many bodies in its wake. Burning worked. But soon, that would have people asking questions.

For now, Etsuko worked on the beta drug. She worked on the formula for twelve days before she completed it. Kitano inspected the formula himself.

"Impressive," he said. "What do you call this?"

"What do I call it?" Etsuko asked.

"Yeah."

"I haven't really thought of a name yet."

"Well, when we see the end product we'll decide on a name, okay?"

"Alright."

The partners worked on different formulas in the Tadpole project. Most of them were successful. Others turned out to be duds. They took notes of every formula they worked on. The drugs themselves were named after Japanese gods and goddesses. Kitano's idea, really. That aside, the drugs themselves could be quite unpredictable.

One example was the eposlion drug known as Nio. On paper, Etsuko and Kitano's design looked solid. In practice, that's where it fell apart. Something in the chemicals caused some of the first generation's bones to break so easily like little twigs. The older test subjects couldn't breathe easily because of the pain. The slightest movement would cause the bones to break even further.

"I don't know where we messed up," Etsuko said as she looked over the notes. Kitano frowned as he took a look himself.

"I don't know either," he said. "But we're running into a serious problem." His partner looked up.

"What is that?" she asked.

"We're starting to lack the materials we need to keep this project going," Kitano whispered. He looked and saw two other doctors talking in the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Etsuko whispered.

"You see, Chou Mori is running broke again," the psychiatrist said. "Most unfortunate, really. Granter, we have been trying some supplies from here, your hospital, and paying for it out of our pockets through catalogs. On top of that, our test subjects have dropped down in the past year and a half. But…"

"The materials are getting pricier on the black market?" Etsuko finished. Kitano nodded.

"So… what should we do?" she asked.

"Plan out the newer drugs," her partner said. "Improve on the old ones. Keep tabs on the test subjects until we have to stop the project."

"Understood," Etsuko said. But by December of 1990, the pair soon had another pair to deal with.

"Kitano-sensei," the director at the time said. "Can I see you in my office?"

"Okay," the psychiatrist said. He followed his boss into his office.

"Is something wrong?" Kitano asked.

"I have noticed that some of the patients here have been disappearing," the director said.

"Oh?"

"Thing is these patients have no next kin. Nobody to ask questions about their well-being."

"Maybe they got up and left on their own. We aren't obligated to hold them. Most of them don't have criminal records. They were just dropped off here."

The director eyed him. "I hope there is no foul play going on." Kitano all but laughed in his mind. Ever since 1989, the director and the staff had to be blind to what was going on in Chou Mori. Instead, the psychiatrist patiently smiled.

"I will keep an eye out for anything suspicious," he said. Except for my project, of course. There were no more questions after that. But, that didn't stop the suspicious from surrounding Chou Mori for the next few years to come.

But right now, the first generation of experiments came to a grinding halt when Chou Mori changed hands of management again. This time, the director at the time was riding his bike on a country over the weekend when he suffered from a heart attack. He ended up falling off the path and hitting his head against a sharp rock. The paramedics pounced him dead at the scene. His daughter ended up being the new director of Chou Mori.

The Tadpole Project with the first generation had to stop in January of 1992. By the end, there were only seven tadpoles left.

-Second Generation-

By 1997, Kitano and Etsuko decided to begin the Tadpole Project again. This time, they not only had a new batch of test subjects and improved their drugs used in their experiments, they had more money and new allies.

A man by the name of Yodogiri Jinnai donated a huge sum of money to Chou Mori in an attempt to get it back on its feet. Kitano himself couldn't understand why the head of a talent agency would even care about a mental institution that had been in decline for years.

He soon got his answer in the fall of 1996.

"Why would you care about this place?" Kitano asked Yodogiri as he left Yoshida ward.

"Excuse me?" the old man asked. The psychiatrist frowned at him.

"What is your aim here?" he asked outright. "What are you plotting to do with this place?" He didn't see how fast that talent agent moved.

"I know about your little project that you and that doctor woman have been doing back in the early 90's," he whispered in Kitano's ear. The therapist turned to him with big eyes. Yodogiri held up his hand.

"I'm not going to turn you in," he said. "I am rather interested in it. In fact, I want to help you expand it." Kitano raised his eyebrow.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"It's like I said," the other old man said. "I am interested in your work. We'll be in touch later." Kitano glared at him as he walked away.

Surprisingly, Yodogiri made good on his word. Project Tadpole came into a bottomless amount of money and supplies before 1997 was over. Plus, Kitano and Etsuko found themselves with now test subjects. But, something didn't sit right with him.

"Where are we getting all of this supplies from?" Etsuko asked in 1999.

"That's what I would like to know," her partner said. Turns out, they didn't like the answer to those questions. Around Christmastime, Yodogiri introduced Kitano and Etsuko to a man named Fyodor.

"This is the head of the Vozrozhdeniye," the old man said. "He's been supplying you with everything that you need." Etsuko looked over at Kitano.

"I see," the therapist said. "Nice to meet you." (A lie, of course.)

"Look forward to aiding you," the Russian man said. They bowed and shook hands. Even from that point, distrust and scheming leaked into the core of the game.

"You can't really expect to trust those men!" Etsuko complained in Kitano's office.

"I don't," he said. The doctor gave him a strange look.

"So, why?" she asked.

"We don't have much of a choice at the moment," Kitano reasoned. "Plus, I don't know what that Yodogiri would do if we turned him down. He's got his claws into Chou Mori already with him getting them money to keep this place running."

"Could've fooled me," Etsuko muttered under breath.

"That's not all," her partner said.

"Hm?"

"Where exactly are we getting some of these patients? Have you noticed something off about some of these test subjects?"

"A little bit."

"Such as?"

"Quite a number of them have relatives back at home, but no one has come looking for them yet."

"Exactly. Why is he so insistent that we use his strays for our project? I do not like this guy, but for the time being we shall humor him until we find out what his true motives are."

"Understood."

Meanwhile, Chou Mori continued its downward spiral. In 2000, people began to take notice when two suicides from the staff took place. A cook hanged himself in the kitchen in July. He craved a final message in the wall near the gas stove.

"I do not want to work for the Devil anymore."

The administrators tried to pass it off as a long battle with depression. His mother didn't buy for one second. She blamed it on work-related stress. She pushed for Chou Mori to be investigated, but her words fell on deaf ears.

But then in October tenth, an orderly jumped in the path of an oncoming train at Ikebukuro station. More questions started to be raised when a second orderly soaked himself in gasoline on the Chou Mori grounds a month later. It took several doctors and therapists to restraint the young man before he could set himself on fire. This led to an internal investigation into the working conditions at Chou Mori. For a short time, things starts to get better for the staff and patients.

Before the 2000's was over, Chou Mori was sold three more times. Around 2008, Kitano and Etsuko opted to take a break to try and secure a more stable place for their work.

-Third Generation-

By 2012, Kitano and Etsuko decided to give the Tadpole Project one more good. They knew the risk there was taking this time. A year earlier, Chou Mori started to be investigated for stories of mental patient abuse and poor working conditions for the staff. For two years, it became a cat-and-mouse game to keep the authorities from closing them down. Despite all of this, "Yodogiri" kept supplying Kitano and Etsuko with his "strays". One particular stray would drive Kitano to up the ante with the Tadpole Project with all of the tadpoles, past and present.

His name was Ryugamine Mikado. Initially, Kitano didn't really pay him any mind. This kid wasn't even a top choice for the project.

_It's just another stray_ , Kitano thought. But then, the selection for the new generation of tadpoles came up and one of the mental patients that was supposed to be in the project died in her sleep from a blood clot in her brain. After much persuasion, the therapist reluctantly sighed Mikado into the project. To be honest, Kitano expected the boy to die. He was ready to come up with a hokey story of how he died in an accident to his parents.

He hadn't expected Mikado to survive the Amaterasu injection in the alpha stage. Kitano had to see the boy for himself. With renewed amazement, he renamed the boy "Chirin". The experiments got bolder with the newer drugs and the improved ones. Kitano had the most fun with the project over the course of six months. But it all came to an end when Mikado managed to escape from Chou Mori. However, Kitano didn't get time to process the loss as the authorities finally cracked down on all of the abuse stories of the institution after one more accidental death and failed cover-up of a mental patient. Kitano and his crew saw the writing on the wall and left Chou Mori before the downfall came into full swing.

Chou Mori closed down for good April of 2013. The building stands abandoned near Aokigahara forest. The institution may be gone, but the Apocalypse game and Project Tadpole still live on.


	21. Chiharu

Halo Twenty: Chiharu:

She grabbed the sides of her head. Chiharu took in slow breaths. Lately, she started having nightmares that she couldn't explain. The scent of blood was strong enough to knock her out. Every few minutes or so, Chiharu would see flashes dismembered body parts. Teeth gnawing at flesh and organs made her stomach turn.

"Chi? Chi? Chi!" someone said. Chiharu jerked her head upwards. Masaomi had his face inches away from hers.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Why are you so close?" Chiharu asked.

"I've been calling you for the past five minutes," Masaomi said. "You looked like you were away in Lala Land."

"Lala Land?" she asked. The girl shook her head. "Never mind. Why aren't you with Ryugamine?"

"He's in his own classroom," Masaomi said. The girl blinked at him. The blonde shogun gave her a strange look of his own.

"What?" he asked. Chiharu rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what's wrong with me lately." She tried to chase out the images of fangs tearing into the skin of a middle-aged torso. Why did she feel like she could taste the iron from the blood pouring into her mouth?

"What do you mean?" Masaomi asked.

"I can't explain it, to be truthful with you. I keep seeing weird things." Chiharu held up her hand. "Sometimes, I see blood on my hands."

Masaomi looked around for a moment before leaning in closer. "Did you kill anyone?"

"No… At least, I don't think so." Her eyes shifted away from the blonde-haired boy.  _Should I tell him that I see myself eating human flesh?_  Chiharu moved her hand her to her stomach.

"I haven't eaten in days because of the things I have been saying," she admitted.

"Why is that?" Masaomi asked.

"If I said it out loud, I might vomit," she said. "Look, can we just drop it for now. My skin's crawling just thinking about blood and eating human bodies."

"What?" Masaomi asked.

"Just forget it."

"I will not. Are you saying that you're going to be a cannibal now?"

"No! I won't do that!" Her voice lingered as if asking herself if she truly believed it herself. "At least, I think I wouldn't."

Masaomi took a step backwards. "Uh… what does that mean?"

"I don't know!" Chiharu threw back her head and groaned. That one just had to slip out, didn't it? She didn't even want to see the look on her friend's face.

In the hallway, Junko watched Masaomi and Chiharu talking to each other. The nurse smirked as she had her eyes locked on her target.

"Pretty soon," she muttered to herself. "Soon." Junko reached into her coat pocket and rubbed the small bottle she had kept by her side for eight cycles now. So far, it's never been the right time to use it on her target. Too many times had this game had come unraveled after the fourth gate was opened.

But might this time, they had the advantage. Junko turned and walked back to her office.

-Shadows in the Sky-

Mika had been able to see the shadows hovering in the sky for weeks now. They didn't do anything. But she would see them floating over certain tall buildings, the streets, or even the police station.

"Why do you keep looking up at the skies so much?" Seiji asked.

"No reason," she said. Mika had her reasons not to tell her boyfriend what was going on. It didn't help that she started to remember more and more things as the gates were being opened. The less he knew, the better.

"You're been acting strange lately," he spoke up. His girlfriend turned her head.

"What are you talking about?" Mika asked. Seiji pulled her into his arms.

"You seem to be on edge about something," he said. "What's on your mind?" It hurt to look into his eyes. But something told her to let him into the loop in bite-size pieces.

"You've asked me this before," Mika said in a low voice.

"What?" Seiji asked.

"Look up," she said. Her boyfriend looked up.

"What do you see?" Mika asked. Seiji narrowed his eyes as he stared at the dim morning sky.

"Just the sky," he said.

"And?"

He shook his head. "Nothing else. What am I looking at?" Mika looked up at the sky with him. She saw the floating shadows over the crosswalk. Their weeping rang in her ears. But this time, a flash of black filled her green eyes.

Mika saw a different sky. Everything was so dark that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Balls of fire exploded in the endless dark sky. She couldn't smell sulfur and burning flesh around her. There was no ground underneath, just empty space. Her body felt so cold that she was burning from the inside. She found herself unable to move. This feeling felt so familiar.

_Am I going to die here?_

She wouldn't be alone for long. A man stood over her. Mika couldn't see his face. But he grinned at her as a long, thin needle was pushed into her right eye. He said something, but she couldn't hear his voice.

A sharp pain shot through her right eye as she collapsed in Seiji's arms.

"Mika-chan?" he asked. "Are you okay?" She looked up at her boyfriend like a hurt little deer.

"No," she said. "I'm just tired." Mika could feel her body trembling.

"Can we just go home?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. Seiji had to pull her along underneath the shadows hovering in the sky. Mika drew her eyes closed as their wailing flowed through her ears.

-Fukan'yo-

I am Fukan'yo. You like the markings on my body? I have every religious symbol on my skin. But, they are not together. The human race has always puzzled me. Why must human always fight? They hate each other for one reason or another. I look down at the people of Ikebukuro and can't help but feel sorry for the misery that they will endure.

It is not my fault that the human race hates each other for shallow reasons. They can't communicate because they can't understand each other. Now, there is a new breed of humans roaming the city below. The tadpoles will stand out too much. They already are in subtle ways. They are desired by the opposite sex. They are much smarter than a supercomputer. Now, they can see the future. My brother has already seen their future. Those tadpoles will both be loved and hated. They will be worth more than all of the money in the world. So much pain they will have to suffer.

I want to weep for them. But, I cannot get attached to these humans. Not yet, anyway. My brother and I are still waiting for our other brothers to show up. They will be arriving soon. I can feel it this time.

For now, my brother and I fly through the skies that we once ruled.

-Countdown-

Everyone can see the countdown from the Dis Program. Except for the Tandeki Group, they wonder what the purpose is. Many guesses float through the message boards and chat rooms. Almost everyone in Ikebukuro spent their nights staring at their screens, trying to take a guess. They couldn't look away from the numbers counting down faster and faster. Satsu now has a new obsession.

"I'm home," Aoi said one evening.

"Welcome home," her girlfriend said, not taking her eyes off her screen. Aoi wandered back into their bedroom.

"You watching DeathVine videos again?" she asked.

"No," Satsu said. Her girlfriend raised an eyebrow as she walked over to her girlfriend's laptop. A confused look came over her face when she saw the red digital numbers counting down.

"What is that?" she asked.

"A clock," Satsu said. "It's counting down to something."

"Counting down to what?" Aoi asked.

"I don't know," her girlfriend said. She swallowed back her drool as she started panting. Aoi slowly started backing away. At least, her beloved wasn't looking at those creepy gory films. But something told her that this was much worse.

"Babe," she said.

"Yeah?" Satsu asked. Her girlfriend shifted in place.  _Should I say anything?_  Aoi clenched her fists at her sides as she struggled to come up with something to say.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," her girlfriend said. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just…" Aoi said.

"What?"

"Your video and internet history are creeping me out."

Satsu turned around to her. "Babe." She stood up and pulled Aoi into her arms. "I'm still here. You haven't lost me."

"You sure about that?" her girlfriend asked. Satsu opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. She still looked like the same woman she had before she first visited DeathVine. Would she start to look like a deranged serial killer if she continued down with this path? Maybe Aoi was right to be worried.

-Drawings-

The demons are starting to reach out to the children more and more each day.

A five-year-girl sat in her living room coloring a picture. The only colors she used were black and red. She hummed to herself as she blended the colors on the large white sheet of paper on the coffee table. Her creature's black fangs about disappeared into the wide open red mouth. The eyes were the size of tea cups. The rest of his body began to disappear in the heavy black crayon. She smiled like she was proud of her artwork. The little girl's mother walked into the living room, talking on her phone. She broke down trembling when she caught a glance of what her daughter was drawing.

"Honey, I'm going to call you back," she said in a soft voice. The woman slowly hung up her phone.

"Sweetie," she said to her daughter.

"Yes, mama?" the little girl asked.

"What are you drawing?"

"My friend, An-san."

Her mother's eyes widened as she started to have flashbacks. She had seen this monster before. An-san used to live in her closet when she was a little girl in the countryside. This creature watched her sleep with the open crack in the door. An-san was the one who killed her little brother, but she couldn't prove it. Her mother said that she never had a son.

The mother grabbed the drawing from her daughter and tore it to pieces.

"Momma! What are you doing?!" she cried.

"Pack up your things!" the mother said. "We can't stay here tonight!" Her daughter stared at her with big eyes.

"Momma?" she asked.

"Now!" the woman screamed. The child rose to her feet, shaking and ran to her room. Her mother sank to her knees as the color drained from her face.

_I can't let this happen again. I can't… let this happen… again._

-Chiharu-

Chiharu stood in front of her bathroom mirror in the dark. Now she can't sleep anymore. Her own face reminded her of an old woman's. The images and the smell of blood started to haunt her dreams more frequently. She panted as she looked in the mirror.

"I will not let it take me," she muttered. "I will fight this if I have to." The girl tried not to look down at her sink filled with blood. Was that even real blood? She didn't care to find out. How long before all of her memories returned?

It wouldn't be long before the Wasteland pulled her back into Tandeki's twisted game as the second round was drawing to a close.

-Scent of Blood-

Celty was out on another late-night job. Same client. They didn't leave her a name like last time. She still didn't know what to do with that bag the client had her to pick up. The dullahan kept it hidden in the closet from Shinra. Celty wondered why she hadn't tried to take a look inside yet. For now, she would get through this job to maybe find a clue about this client of hers.

Celty was about to pass the intersection when she spotted someone sitting in the middle of the road. She slowed to a stop to see a girly-looking man with fox ears dressed in a red kimono. He took a short knife and disemboweled himself. Celty winced as blood came up from the man's mouth. His innards on full display. The man turned to her and only muttered two words.

"Chaos reigns," he whispers.


	22. Mikado

Halo Twenty-One: Mikado:

Kitano picked up his tape recorder and hit the record button.

"I want to talk more about Chirin-kun," he said. "The main question is, why him? Why him indeed. Our little journey is a peculiar, but fascinating one. He wasn't even supposed to be in this project of mine. The original patient I had lined up for the third generation of this project died in her sleep that day. I just had to have a replacement at the time and that bastard Yodogiri suggested that I use Chirin. Now, he was just another one of his strays at the time. I didn't really think much about him. In fact, I thought he would die during the first experiment."

Kitano chuckled on the recording.

"Things got interesting when he survived."

* * *

Something felt different.

Mikado didn't want to open his eyes and see what it was. He had a feeling that Kitano and his crew did something to him. Those bastards. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"Mikado-kun?" Masaomi asked. "What are you still doing in bed? Get up, we have to go." The tadpole boy reluctantly opened his eyes. Horror washed over his face. Masaomi stood inches away from him with his inner demon on his shoulder.

"Saki! Saki! Saki! Saki! Saki!" it hissed. Mikado backed up, trembling.

"W-W-What? What is this?" he asked. He pinched himself in the cheek. The demon was still there with its yellow eyes focused on him. The tadpole boy covered up his right eye. Mikado could still see the demon.

"What's the matter?" Masaomi asked. Mikado covered up his left eye. The color drained from his face as he lowered his hand.

"It's spread," he said in a weak voice.

"What?" Masaomi asked.

"I can seem them out of both of my eyes," Mikado said. His friend ran over and grabbed him as he sank to his knees.

"What are you talking about?" Masaomi asked. "What do you mean you see them in both eyes? The demons?"

"Yes," Mikado croaked.

"But… How?" his friend asked. Suddenly, the phone rang. Mikado looked over at his phone plugged into the wall. Against his better judgement, he crawled over and picked it up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Good morning, Chirin-kun," Kitano said on the other line. Mikado trembled.

"What do you want me?!" he yelped.

"I'm only calling to check on. Any new developments? Don't try to lie me. I will find out either way."

Mikado lowered his eyes. "I can see demons out of both my eyes. Why is this happening to me?!"

"Your powers are evolving."

"What?"

"I look forward to see how the rest of this day turns out for you."

"What are you talking about? What did you do?!"

"We will be in touch!"

"Wait-!" Mikado stared at his phone when Kitano hung up. He looked up to see Masaomi with the look of a concerned dad on his face.

"My, my, my," Mikado heard. He looked up to see Satoshi shaking his head and smirking at him.

"This is turning into quite a nightmare for you, Chirin," the dead boy said. "How are you going to even go outside? All of those demons out there. How will you even last through the day? How long before they find out your little secret? How long before they see you as a monster and try to kill you?" Mikado backed up to the wall, pale and shaking his head.

"No…" he murmured.

_Mikado? Mikado?_

A hand reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. The tadpole boy jerked his head upwards. Masaomi stared at him.

"Come on, don't do this," he said. "Keep it together, okay? Stay with me." Mikado gave him a blank stare.

"I can't have you breaking down on me," Masaomi said. "We will get through this." The blonde shogun paused when he heard his friend mumbling something.

"What?" he asked.

"What if we can't?" Mikado asked. "What will we do if they find out what I am? What if they decide to hunt me and the others down?"

"I won't let that happen!" Masaomi shouted. "We will worry about that when we cross that bridge! You've got to keep it together and fight this! Do you understand me?"

"But…"

"Do you understand me?"

Mikado lowered his eyes. "Yes." Masaomi patted him on the head.

"Good," he said. "You know what? I don't feel like going to school today and neither do you."

"Masaomi…" Mikado said.

"We're not going to school today," Masaomi repeated. "We're going to stay in for the whole day." He held up his hand before the tadpole boy could speak.

"No arguments," the leader of the Yellow Scarves said. "We are staying in." Masaomi got up and walked into the kitchen. Mikado was about to speak, but gave up. He lay down on his side on the floor. Might as well. His friend was only trying to look out for him after all. Maybe this could help him not look at so many demons in a crowded place at once. Just stay in all day and don't think about Kitano's experiments being done to him. It should be easy, right?

Satoshi stood on the other side of the room, shaking his head. "Let's see how long that lasts," he muttered.

* * *

Yuka, Yayoi, and Rumi crowded around the glowing Heartseed.

"I can't take my eyes off of it!" Rumi said.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yayoi asked. "Just like our precious tadpoles. They get more beautiful each day." She closed her eyes and trembled. "Pretty soon, Chirin will be nice and ripe for the fucking." Rumi blushed as Yuka rolled her eyes.

"Slut," Yuka muttered. Yayoi was about to come up with a smart-mouthed remark when something caught her eye.

"Hey, has that ever done that before?" she asked.

"What?" Yuka asked as she turned her head. The Heartseed's glow grew intense and flashed different colors in the glass case.

"What the…?" the intern asked. She turned and ran out of the room.

"What's going on?" Rumi asked.

"I don't know…" Yayoi said.

* * *

Mikado leaned against the wall, panting.

"Mikado, what's wrong?" Masaomi asked.

"My body…" the tadpole boy mumbled. "I feel like it's on fire." Mikado grabbed at his shirt as he started breathing heavily. He could barely hear his best friend's voice over the sounds of the city outside. The echoing in his brain made his eyes water. Mikado's eyes darted around his apartment. The heat inside of his body felt like it was choking him. He could see Masaomi screaming and shaking him.

"Help… me…" Mikado said in a muzzled voice. His mind started to go back to his time at Chou Mori. He felt like throwing as he began to smell bleach again. This time, the tadpole boy could hear Christmas music in the background. Mikado was strapped down to operating table under dim lights. His eyes darted around the room as he started breathing heavily. He could see Kitano's devilish grin as the therapist held a giant hypodermic needle filled with bright green liquid in his hand.

"Mikado? Mikado?" Masaomi asked in reality. He reached out and grabbed Mikado by the shoulder, shaking him. Mikado's eyes widened. He slapped Masaomi's hand away.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted. The tadpole boy leapt out and bolted out the door.

"Wait, Mikado!" Masaomi yelled after him.

* * *

Mikado felt trapped in a glass box. When did the sky look so red? His heart raced against his chest. He could hear the blood rushing in his body. It didn't help that sounds inside clashed against the sounds of the cities. He could feel the heat from inside his body twisting through his body. A choking pressure circled in his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. Until now, Mikado didn't get a good chance to see where he was. The wailing from the shadowy figures floating above made his ears ache.

"What do you want from me?!" the boy screamed at the sky. He could hear Kitano's voice in his head once again.

"You will pain and discomfort, but do not worry. That's just the toxins leaving your body. It's all part of the cure."

"Liar!" Mikado screamed. "Liar! Liar!" He paused when he heard cackling. He turned his head to see Satoshi smirking at him.

"Well now, that didn't take long for you to run away from your sanctuary," he said. "All of those demons out there. You don't have your precious boyfriend to protect you. It's going to be so much fun to see you crumble under the pressure. Because we both know that your master has the final say in what will happen to you. The best part is that he isn't done with you yet."

"Don't you ever shut up?" Mikado asked. Satoshi smirked and shrugged at him.

"I'm only tell you the truth," he said. "I can't wait to see when they all start to despise you and hunt you down." Mikado clenched his fists at his sides and started walking further into the city.

"Yeah, that's it!" Satoshi yelled. "Run away from the truth!" The living tadpole boy sped up with his walking.

* * *

So many demons on the streets of Ikebukuro. Not just the ones on the people's shoulders either. Everyone had their eyes on Mikado. He could see two of them across the street whispering to each other as they stared at him from across the street. Mikado panted as he took slow steps backwards. Ghost-like fingers rested on his shoulders.

"It's only going to get worse," Satoshi whispered in his ear. His words sounded faded as Mikado saw himself back in Chou Mori.

He found himself locked in a small, darkened room. He stood in found a heavy iron door. Well, Mikado did his best to be standing after another round of drugs being injected into his body. His legs from like wet noodles. He tried to make sense of what was around him. Mikado's head was in too much of a fog to think clearly. Instinct told him to move, but it felt like his brain was disconnected from his body. But, it didn't take him long to realize that he wasn't alone.

"It's only going to get worse," Satoshi said in present day. Mikado clenched his teeth.

"Aw, what's the matter?" the dead tadpole asked. "If you can't handle it, why don't you go back home? Now, why can't you do that again? Oh that's right, you don't want to have to look at your little boyfriend's demon worrying about his girlfriend."

"It's not like that!" Mikado said. The dead tadpole raised his eyebrow.

"Oh?" he asked. The living tadpole lowered his eyes.

"I just… I just wanted to be alone right now," he mumbled.

"Right…" Satoshi said. "Face it, you are turning into a monster. I'm still curious to wonder how long before your little boyfriend ends up trying to kill you out of fear."

"That won't happen."

"Hm? How can you be so sure?"

"You don't know Kida-kun."

"What's makes you think that you know him any better? And before you tell me, 'It's because he's my best friend and he would never hurt me,' sounding like an idiot, how much do you be so sure about that?"

"I just do."

"But he didn't tell you that he was the leader of the Yellow Scarves a while back."

"I didn't tell him that I founded the Dollars back then either."

"And what else has he not told you?" Satoshi raised his eyebrow as Mikado clenched his fists at his sides.

"Enough, you are making me mad," he said.

"Aw what, can't handle reality?" Satoshi asked. Nearby, Kadota happened to be walking to work when he caught Mikado shouting at nobody down an empty alley.

"Look, just leave me alone, okay?!" the boy yelled. "I'm sorry you had a miserable life! It's not my fault! You tried to kill me! I'm sorry you're dead! Just leave me alone!" Kadota gave Mikado a strange look.

"Who is he talking to?" he asked himself. The tadpole boy snorted and walked strange past his older friend in a huff.

"Uh… home's that way, friend," Satoshi said as he point in the opposite direction. Mikado waved him off in a rude way as he turned the corner. The dead tadpole shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay then, go the wrong way then," Satoshi said. "That's not going to get rid of me so easily." He followed his living brother, not even looking up at Kadota looking down the path that Mikado took.

* * *

Yuka stood by her place next to the Heartseed plant while Kitano and Etsuko sat in a room behind a two-way mirror. By this time, the plant had calmed inside to perform the next experiment. It still gave off a hazy glow behind the glass.

"You may begin the experiment," Kitano said over his microphone.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Yuka said. "My name is Ogawa Yuka and I will be conducting the fourth addition of the augmentations to the test subjects." She waited for a brief moment before resuming.

"Last time Shiga-san gave us her drug," she said. "Who's next?" Akihito stepped forward.

"I am," he said.

"What do you have for us today?" Yuka asked. Akihito pushed up his brown-framed glass and stepped forward with a small brown bottle in his hand. Yuka turned the brown around as she tried to look inside.

"What is this?" she asked, squinting.

"My augmentation drug is called Kratos," Akihito explained.

"How many pills do I give each test subject?" Yuka asked.

"One," he said.

"Okay," his fellow intern said. "Our fourth drug that will be administered into the augmentation experiment has been given to us by Iseki Akihito whom has named his drug Kratos." Yuka twisted the plastic orange bottle cap. Everyone watched as each little flower was fed a deep red pill. Yuka stepped back when the last flower closes.

"And now, we wait," she said. The Heartseed glowed a bright red. Yuka kept her eyes solely on the plant, wondering what it will do next in the tadpole evolution.

* * *

By three o'clock, Mikado's body began to feel sore as that burning feeling returned. It felt like he had been doing intense labor all day that would require him to use all of his muscles. He leaned against a park bench, panting. The tadpole could feel a migraine coming on. His eyes began to water. Mikado had gotten use to the sound of his blood rushing through his body. He tried to swallow back his sick. At least he didn't have to hear Satoshi's annoying voice for now. But, that didn't stop him from hearing Kitano's voice in his head either.

"Do not worry. The drugs may be overwhelming to you at first, but your body will get used to them."

Mikado wanted so badly to punch that bastard in the face. How could that lying bastard say all of that with a straight face?

"Nii-san!" a little kid's voice yelled. "Nii-san!" Mikado looked up to see a boy about six years old looking up at him. The child had about seven or eight of his little friends with him. It felt so good not to be looking at demons for a change.

"Yes?" Mikado asked as he tried his best to sound normal.

"Could you please hand us the ball?" the little boy asked as he pointed over into the bushes. Mikado turned his head. A soccer ball was well-hidden in the bushes.

"Sure," the older boy said. Mikado walked over and picked up the soccer ball. But when he kicked it over to the field, the ball sailed through the air and out of the park. The children watched it with shocked looks on their faces. Mikado's jaw dropped as his eyes widened.

_What the… When have I been able to do that?_  It didn't take long for him to notice the little children staring at him. Mikado backed up, shaking his head.  _No… Please don't look at me like that. I can't take it._

Mikado took off running as fast as he could.

* * *

"We seemed to have had an interesting development in the Tadpole Project today," Kitano said on his tape recording. "The Heartseed started glowing and changing different colors. After doing quick tests on it, I am happy to say that our beloved pets' powers are finally evolving. It comes just in time for the third round of our game to start too."

The therapist looked out the window.

"I am interested to see how Chirin's development will turn out. I have so many more drugs to use on him and his siblings. There is one more augmentation that has to be set in place before Etsuko-san and I can take over again. So far, the interns have been doing well with their drugs on this project. They will continue to supply their drugs to the Heartseed plant, mind you. Other than that, we will keep observing the pets until the next experiment is ready." Kitano hit stop on his recorder and looked out the window.

"What will you do next, Chirin-kun?" he asked himself.

* * *

Masaomi stopped to take a breath. Nine hours. He had a bad feeling about this. The boy wasn't supposed to let his best friend out of his sight. Masaomi should've grabbed Mikado just before he could bolt out the head. He cursed himself.

Mikado didn't even take his phone or shoes with him either. Masaomi rubbed his forehead. Maybe he should call someone to help him look for his friend. The boy quickly shook his head. He didn't need to risk any more attention on his suffering best friend. So now what?

Masaomi was about to head back to Mikado's apartment when he heard a weaken voice calling his name. The blonde-haired boy turned around and found his best friend dragging his feet towards him.

"Where have you been?" Masaomi asked, gasping. A puzzled look came over his face when he noticed tears in his friend's eyes.

"What's the matter?" the blonde shogun asked.

"I can't take this anymore," Mikado whimpered. "This is torture. Is this some sick game to them? Why is this happening to me? I just… I just…" His words became lost with more tears. His body dropped as if everything had been sucked out of him. Masaomi pulled a weeping Mikado into his arms.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "We'll the bastards that did this to you. I will hunt down every last one even if it takes me years." Mikado lifted his head.

"What if we can't beat this?" he whispered.

"Don't say that!" Masaomi said. "We will!"

"Are you sure about that?" the tadpole asked. His question left the blonde shogun in an uneasy place as he dragged Mikado home. How could keep his best friend from breaking down when he couldn't protect Saki from an inevitable death?

Suddenly, his words sounded so hollow.


	23. Hisayo

Halo Twenty-Two: Hisayo:

-July 10th, 1987-

She used to have a happy home life. Her dad's political career strangled that peace with its heavy hands. She couldn't remember a night where her parents weren't fighting about her father's career.

"You're never home!" her mother complained.

"I have to work!" he shot back.

"We did we have to leave Kitashiobara?"

"You wanted a new start, remember?"

"But not like this!"

Their daughter could already predict where this argument was going next. They always fought about the same things. When she was younger, they rarely fought. She used to be able to ignore them. Now, she wanted an escape.

She would get her wish, twice.

The first was her younger sister. All her mother wanted was a happy home life. Having many children seemed like a misguided attempt. The husband didn't complain. Although, he knew that more children wouldn't fix the problem.

"You sure you want this?" he asked.

"Yes!" his wife insisted. "I want more children." Her husband complied just to keep her happy. Hisayo on the other hand, didn't complain. The long lost quiet was welcomed with open arms. Things improved when her mother, Asuka, got pregnant again. Her husband, Takumi, was more attentive. He came home more often. Takumi even helped Hisayo with her homework. Asuka looked so much better when she smiled. Maybe peaceful times would finally come back. I looked like it would head that way too. Toshiko was born in the summer of 1981. Nine-year-old Hisayo couldn't help but stare at that cute little round face. Asuka and Takumi loved their new baby. Sadly, it didn't take long for reality to sink in again.

Takumi already saw the reality coming fast. Two daughters meant more money was needed to support the whole family. By the time Toshiko was four, it was back to work with Takumi. With it, the fights grew worse. Dinners became awkward and silent. Asuka glared at her daughters as if she resented their existence. She tried to convince them otherwise, but her tone never matched her words.

"What's wrong, Mama?" Toshiko asked days before Christmas at dinner. For once, both parents sat at the table. Asuka looked at her daughter with her frozen eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. She tried to smile, but sounded like she wanted to scream. Takumi tried to hold her hand under the table, but she slapped it away. Toshiko looked down at her plate.

"What is it?" Asuka asked. The little girl began to tremble.

"Come on, spit it out!" her mother said with her voice rising. "Why are you asking me what's wrong? Whatever gave you the idea that something was wrong? Everything is fine, isn't it? Isn't it?" Toshiko's eyes welled up with tears as she shook her head. Hisayo rubbed her on her the back.

"How can you say that?!" Asuka asked, standing up from the table. "We're a happy family! Aren't we? Aren't we?!" Takumi grabbed her by the wrist.

"That's enough, dear!" he said. His wife slapped away his hand.

"I was not asking you!" she snapped.

"You're scaring the girls!" Takumi shouted back. Asuka turned her cold glare on her husband.

"Oh, now you want to act like a father?!" she asked.

"Honey, don't do this!"

"Shut up!"

Hisayo grabbed hold of Toshiko and ran back to their rooms. Things had gotten worse ever since the younger sister was born. Takumi worked lower hours due to big election coming up within months. Asuka became more stressed and lonely as the months dragged on. It didn't help that the candidate that her husband worked won the nomination.

"Why can't you be happy for me?" Takumi asked after he broke the news.

"Why can't you be home more often?!" Asuka shouted back. Hisayo and Toshiko hid in their room as the fight began again. The older sister began to wish for a distraction to get away from the crushing reality crawling towards her again.

The second was her teacher. This started to create more problems between mother and older daughter. Asuka in her twisted, jealous mind got the idea that Abe-sensei was sleeping with Hisayo. Naturally, both teacher and student denied the charges.

"Where do you keep getting these strange ideas in your head?" Abe-sensei asked outside of the apartment one day.

"I've seen the way you look at her!" Asuka shouted through the door. "You have not changed at all!"

"Hisayo-chan and I are not in a relationship!" the teacher yelled. "I'm happily married!"

"Does your wife know that you're playing around with my daughter?!" she yelled. "You men are all the same!"

"Asuka!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Again, Hisayo hid in her room, covering her ears. At the time, she, Toshiko, Abe-sensei, and Asuka had no idea that they would be playing a bigger role in the game called the Wasteland. For now, Hisayo would just get lost in her fantasies about her beloved teacher and try to ignore her parents' increasing fights.

She closed her eyes and wished that her teacher or mother would give up and close the door.

* * *

-Present Day-

Kaori stared at her phone. She stopped in the middle of the street.

"How long have you been following me?" she asked. The loli goth turned around and smirked.

"Ah, Azazeal," Kaori said. "How long have you been following me like this?" A man in a black suit and tie smiled.

"Nice to see you as sharp as ever," the gentleman said in an elegant tone. Kaori's eyes shifted to his right.

"And you're here too, Kai?" she asked. A man dressed in a gold kimono with his long blue hair tied back into a ponytail appeared next to Azazeal.

"Still can't get past you, can I?" he asked. Kaori smiled like a little angel.

"I missed you, gentlemen," she said. "How long has it been since the last cycle?"

"I believe in a technical sense, about fifty or sixty years if the cycle was on a normal track of time," Azazeal said. Kaori whistled.

"It really doesn't feel like it," she said. "Oh, that's right. We keep going back to different points." Kaori giggled and stuck out her tongue.

"Have they found the fifth gate yet?" Kai asked.

"Not yet," she said. "But they will be getting really close this time. Let's just say that I gave them a little bit of help this time."

"What did you do?" Azazeal asked. Kaori smiled and winked.

"You will have to see with your own eyes," she said.

"Again with the games?" Kai asked. Kaori giggled as she turned around with her parasol.

"It makes this game more interesting that way," she said. Across the street, a little ghost girl about six years old watched the three scheming figures silently. She held her little teddy bear to her chest. Kaori looked at her out of the corner of her eye. She mouthed only one word towards the child.

"Toshiko."

The little ghost girl opened her mouth and let off a meowing noise.

* * *

How did two little girls cause a huge mess for a city? Whether they know they are being used as a catalyst for the apocalypse game, it doesn't matter to Tandeki, Vozrozhdeniye, and Mam.

They aren't the only ones using Toshiko and her older sister.


	24. Exposed

Halo Twenty-Three: Exposed:

Rumors about the tadpoles hit the internet. Message board after message board had something to say about them. Videos about tadpole conspiracy theories popped up on YouTube. Websites started popping up as people tried to find out more about them. Even the Dollars chatroom started to talk about the tadpoles.

"What are these tadpoles?"

"Did they come from another planet?"

"Are they like demons or something?"

"Where did they really come from?"

"Are they really human?"

"Maybe they are here to take over the world and enslave the human race."

"They could be gods from another world."

"What if they are secret agents from the government?"

"What are they doing here?"

"Where did they come from?"

"Why do they even exist?"

"Where the hell did these tadpoles come from?"

"What these tadpoles and where did they come from?"

Some theories focused on the more mundane possibilities - that they were the result of secret government experiments, mutants, or a military project. Other speculation was wilder - some people wondered if tadpoles were demons, aliens, or gods from another world. Many were unsure about what should be done about them, while others thought they knew all the answers. They should be worshipped. Killed. Caught and studied. Sent back to their home world. Used as living weapons to defeat their country's enemies.

A few rare people - too few for tadpole activists' tastes - just wanted to treat them like everyone else, and pushed for understanding and enshrining their civil rights in law.

It didn't take long for the tadpoles themselves to see what was being written about them online.

-Panic-

Mikado stared at his computer screen with the color drained from his face.

"No…" he mumbled.

"You're still up?" Masaomi asked as he sat up in the futon. He noticed the Dollars Chatroom on the screen.

Kanra: Do you think these tadpoles are going to take over humanity?

Kyo: Creepy!

Sharo: Why do they even exist?

Lady Death: They could be demons from another world sent to kill us all.

Masaomi read the comments coming in like gunfire before turning to a panicked.

"What's going to happen to me now?" Mikado asked in a hoarse voice. Masaomi grabbed his hand.

"They don't know much yet," he said.

"But long before that changes?" his best friend asked. "We don't even know what they will do when they find out everything! What if they start hunting us down?" Masaomi pulled him into his arms.

"I told you, I won't let anything happen to you," he said. Mikado looked up at him like a hurt little puppy.

"How?" he asked. The tadpole boy broke down trembling in his friend's arms. Masaomi saw a boy who was drowning. These past six months had been a storm for the founder of the Dollars. Some days were okay, but others…

The blonde shogun couldn't remember the last time Mikado had slept comfortably.

"You really need to go to sleep," Masaomi told him last night. The tadpole boy sat balled up in the corner, shaking his head.

"Are the dreams getting that worse?" the blonde teenager asked. Mikado nodded once. Some nights, the boys would stay up talking to take the tadpole boy's mind off of the changes to his body.

"I wanted an extraordinary life, but not like this," Mikado said this morning.

"I know," Masaomi said. With each passing day, Mikado was turning into a former shelf of himself. The leader of the Yellow Scarves tightened his grip.

"I don't know," he said. "But stay by me. I will never leave you. You will always have me. I will not leave you!"

"But…"

"I will not leave you!"

Mikado stared at him as if he had seen a god in person for the first time. "I don't get it."

"Get what?" Masaomi asked.

"When did you get so brave?" the tadpole boy asked. His best friend froze. He's heard that question before. But from where? Saki? Mikado? Or maybe…

Masaomi shook his head.

"Never mind that," he said. "I think you should take a break from the chat room for a while." The blonde-haired boy turned to his computer and logged out of Mikado's account.

"There," Masaomi said as he closed out of the Dollars website. "I don't think you should be on the internet for a while." Mikado looked at him with big eyes. His friend held up his hand as the tadpole boy opened his mouth.

"I don't want to hear it," Masaomi said. "You've had too many break downs this month already. You need time to pull yourself together. The last thing you need is to be freaked out by conspiracy theories online. You hear me?" Mikado lowered his eyes.

"I understand," he said in a soft voice.

"Good," Masaomi said. His friend rested his head against his chest like a little boy who had just woken up from a nightmare seeking comfort from his father.

-Damage Control-

Izaya sat in the lobby of Rampo Biotech, messing with his phone.

"You!" he heard someone yelling at him. The information broker looked up to see Osamu storming up towards him.

"Hm?" Izaya asked. Osamu grabbed him by the shirt. He shoved his cell phone in his face.

"Did you do this?!" he shouted. "Did you do this?!" Izaya looked at the screen and saw a geeky YouTuber with glasses paused on the screen. The title of the video caught his eye.

"Are the tadpoles gods?"

The information broker smirked as he shoved the bigger man off.

"First of all, I do not like being yelled at," Izaya said. "Second, no I did not." Osamu's nostrils flared as he glared at him.

"Liar!" he hissed. Izaya gave him an innocent shrug.

"Now, why would I lie?" he asked. "I wouldn't try to jeopardize the project. I want to see the end result of this."

"He's telling the truth," a voice said. The men turned to see Kitano and Etsuko walking into the lobby. The therapist held up another one of Izaya's phone. Osamu snorted.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Our hackers are tracing the source right now," Kitano said. "It doesn't look like the leak came from Japan itself." Izaya and Osamu looked up perplexed.

"We're having a staff meeting right now," Kitano said.

* * *

The inner circle sat in board room 107. Kitano woke up his laptop attached to a projector.

"Apparently, someone has leaked out information about Project Tadpole," he said. He clicked through several screencapped images of people talking about the tadpoles and questioning their existence.

"They don't seem to know much about it," the therapist said. "They are just spinning off rumors for the time being."

"Can they pinpoint when the leak occurred?" Junko asked.

"As of right now, no," Kitano answered. "Our hacker team is working hard to look into it." Osamu glared over at Izaya sitting across the table.

"I still say I have a guess as to who," he growled.

"Aw, Osamu-chan!" Izaya said. "I'm really hurt you would accuse me of such a thing."

"I wouldn't put it past you," the older man said. "Loki! Why are you even here anyway? You don't really do anything around here. Maybe you were sent here to spy on us. Did the Awakusu send you or are you working on your own?"

"Osamu-chan! I can't believe that you would accuse me of such things!" Izaya said.

"Don't call me that!" Osamu barked.

"Enough!" Kitano cut in, raising to his feet. Izaya and Osamu looked up at him.

"We do not have time to point fingers!" the therapist said. "We have more pressing issues to worry with." Kitano sat down.

"How are we going to contain the leak?" Aya asked.

"It's futile to try and stop it now," Kitano said while thinking. "Once it's on the internet, you can't get it off. Plus, we would be fueling the talk if we try to stop them." The wheels in his brain started to turn as he looked at his inner circle and Izaya.

"Daichi," Kitano said. "Which one of your sisters was talking about going viral the other day?"

"That would be Chiyomi," Daichi answered.

"I see," Kitano said. "We will have no choice."

"May I ask what are you planning?" Etsuko asked.

"We will have to break the truth out to the public ourselves," he said. The rest of his inner circle stared at him with big eyes.

"What?!" they asked.

"Hear me out," Kitano said. "If we sit back and do nothing now, sooner or later someone is going to start digging around and finding out more. The last thing I want is to have this whole game come unraveled because of the needless work to contain damage that could've been dealt with earlier. It's best that we reveal a watered-down version of the truth now."

"And you want to do this over the internet?" Izaya asked.

"I believe that this is the best way to reach the masses," he said.

"Heh," the information broker said, sitting back in his chair. "This should be interesting." Osamu shot him a cold glare.

* * *

Shoko, Kitano's older daughter, helped with putting on make-up on her father for the camera.

"How's my coat?" he asked. Shoko straightened up his coat.

"Very good," she said.

"Excellent," Kitano said. "Thank you for coming out and helping me today."

"Sure, dad," Shoko said. She cleaned off her make-up brush and packed up her kit. Kitano walked over to the desk in an empty conference room.

"Everything ready?" he asked.

"Yes, sensei," Daichi said behind the camera. "Five, four, three, two, one!" He hit the record button as Kitano sat up.

"Good afternoon, people of Ikebukuro," he said. "My name in Kitano Katsuhiro-sensei. It has come to my attention that there is a rumor about a species of superhuman called tadpoles. I am here to set the record straight. Yes, they do exist. How do I know this? Because I created them. It all started back from a little project I started back in 1989. Now, I know that all of you have several theories and questions about these tadpoles. I cannot tell you their true purpose or what my motives are for the time being. But, I can tell you one thing.

"There isn't anything that sets them about from normal humans. They have no special markings or features on their bodies that makes them stand out. Tadpoles look just like you and me. They could be walking on the street among you as I speak. Hell, some of them can be part of the Dollars or the Yellow Scarves. You could even be a tadpole yourself, though I doubt that because you've already known. Trying to figure out who's a tadpole or not will be futile. Again, this is all that I can tell you for the time being. That is all and thank you for your time."

Kitano's video reached over 10,000 hits within hours. It ended being shared several times. Izaya himself watched the video, smirking.

"Well done, sensei," he said. "Now that the secret's out. What are you going to do next?" The information broker's phone started ringing.

"Hello?" he asked. "Yeah, it's out now. No full details. I am still looking into the projects themselves. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I love it. Okay, goodbye." Izaya hung up and watched Kitano's video again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaori watched the video on her own phone.

"Perfect, things are getting interesting," she said. The loli goth paused and turned around. "And how long are you going to be standing there, watching me? If you wanted to watch the video, you could've asked." Azazeal stepped out from the darkened alley.

"Was this your way to speed this game up?" he asked.

"Maybe!" she said. "I know that you just didn't come all this way to ask that. What else could possibly be on your mind?"

"Oh, just a fair warning," he said.

"About?"

Azazeal stood by her side. "There will be demons that won't like these tadpoles. Some might even try and kill them."

"Sounds good to me."

"Excuse me?"

Kaori turned to him with a smirk on her face. "I love Mama and the work that she is doing. But for the game to be really effective, I think they need to thin out some of the little pets in the pack. We've lost two of them, but that's not enough." She looked at Kitano's video on her phone.

"By now, sensei's voice has reached every human in this city," she said. "It won't be long before it spreads through all of Tokyo and then the rest of Japan. And then the game will advance to the next round." She began giggling as she hit replay on the video.

-Anri, Mika, and Celty-

Chikako called in Anri to claim Akabayashi's body. The mobster didn't have any known living relatives. He had put the Sayaka's daughter down as next of kin.

"I know this is hard for you," Chikako said in a low voice. "You can take your time if you need to."

"Thank you," Anri whispered as she bowed her head. It didn't take as long as she pictured it in her head. Saika's mother confirmed that this was Akabayashi on the table.

"What happens now?" Anri asked.

"Well, there is paperwork to be filled out before I release the body for the funeral," Chikako said. "After that, we release the body to you." Anri nodded. Shiki came by her house to talk about funeral arrangements.

"He used to work for me," was all that he would tell her. Anri didn't question it; instinct told her it wasn't the appropriate time to do so. Once Akabayashi's body was claimed, the Awakusu would take over from there.

* * *

Outside of the police station, Anri found Mika and Celty waiting for her.

"Mika? Celty-san? What are you doing here?" she asked. Mika stepped forward.

"Anri, we need to talk," her old friend said. "It's about Mikado." Saika's mother raised her eyebrow.

"What about him?" she asked. "Is he in trouble?"

"[Not yet,]" Celty typed on her PDA. "[Have you looked in the Dollars chatroom lately?]"

"No," Anri said. Mika pulled out her phone and showed her Kitano's video. Anri looked up the icon to replay appeared on the screen.

"Are you saying that Mikado-kun is…?" she asked.

"[Yes,]" Celty typed.

"He's going to need your help," Mika added. "There will be people hunting him and the others down. Masaomi can't protect him by himself. You have to go and stay by Mikado's side." Anri struggled to say something. She placed her hand over her mouth.

"W-Why would that man do that Mikado-kun?" Saika's mother asked.

"[Kitano-sensei wants to make him a witness to the apocalypse,]" Celty typed. "[Shinra won't tell me anymore than that, but I pretty much figured it out on my own. It would be best to talk to Mikado about it. I can take you to his apartment right now.]"

"Could you please?" Anri asked. She rushed over to Shooter as the side formed a sidecar. Celty rode with both Anri and Mika in tow.

-Naomi-

Last night, both Midori and Madoka replied to a text sent only to their phones.

"My name is Aizawa Naomi. I think you are looking for me."

The two female tadpoles didn't know what to make of this at first.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Madoka asked in a café the next day.

"I don't know," Midori said as she looked at her phone. "I replied back to her asking her a few questions."

"Like what?"

"The basic questions. Was she really in Chou Mori? What did she did she remember? Did that evil bastard contact to her too?"

"And her responses?"

Midori scrolled upwards on the screen. "She said 'yes', 'the smell of bleach, the shots, the bright lights, and yes.'" Madoka read along with her.

"I see," she said.

"I wrote her to meet up with us here," Midori said. The other tadpole woman stared at her with big eyes.

"Why would you do that?!" she asked.

"Shhh!" the time tadpole whispered. Midori quickly looked around. The other customers and waitresses didn't pay much attention to them. Madoka turned to back to Midori.

"Why would you do that?" she asked again.

"We have to reach out to as many other tadpoles as we can," Midori said. "We don't want anyone else end up like Azusa did."

"But we don't know what they would be like," Madoka pointed out. "We don't know what their state of mind is like."

"That's why I brought this," the time tadpole said. She opened her bag and revealed a box cutter at the bottom.

"What the hell?!" the other tadpole hissed. "Why would you bring something like that?!"

"For protection," Midori whispered back.

"How is that going to help us?!" her friend asked. The time tadpole opened her mouth, but froze when she felt a chill rush down her spine.

"She's here," Madoka whispered. She and Midori turned towards the doorway to see a woman standing and looking around eagerly. When she spotted the two women near the back of the café, she tried to walk towards them. A waitress approached the woman, but she managed to convinced that she would be fine. Midori and Madoka waited with bated breath as the third tadpole arrived at their table. Her black hair came down to her shoulders in an even cut. A little red jewel hung from the V of her light blue shirt. Her blue eyes shifted back and forth as she tugged at her jeans.

"Excuse me," the woman said. "Are you two Madoka and Midori?"

"That would depend on who's asking," Midori said. "Who are you?" The woman lowered her eyes.

"My name is Naomi," she said. "I was the one who sent you the texts. May I join you?" The other two tadpoles looked at each other.

"Please," Naomi said. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to talk." Midori quickly nodded.

"Sure," she said.

"Thank you," the third tadpole said. She bowed and took a seat. The three women waited for someone to say something.

"Um… I control time and she has super powerful eyesight," Midori said at last. "What can you do?" Naomi pressed her lips together.

"Promise you won't freak out?" she asked.

"I don't think whatever you can do can freak up out any more than what we have seen," Madoka said.

"Oh, right," the new tadpole said. She picked up a paper napkin and drew in a deep breath. She held it out for about fifteen seconds. The napkin curled and turned into a sheet of plastic. Midori gasped as she covered her mouth.

"Whoa," she said. Madoka reached up and touched it.

"It feels just like a plastic," she said. Naomi reached up and wiped away the blood from her nose.

"I've been able to do this with other objects since back in January," she explained. "I can't do it for too long or I get dizzy."

"So you can change anything into something else?" Midori asked.

"Yes," Naomi said. "But not with people." She rubbed at her wrist.

"Tell me," Madoka said. "Have you been receiving calls or text encouraging you to use your powers more often? Maybe suggesting that it would help you to live?"

"Yes," the new tadpole said. "Hang on." She reached into her black shoulder bag and pulled out her mouth. Madoka and Midori looked at the screen of texts. The former pulled out her phone and looked at the call log.

"It's the same number," she said. Midori looked at the women back and forth.

"Could you tell me what's going on?" she asked. Madoka frowned.

"There's someone pushing us to use our powers more," she explained. "They pushed me to stop wearing my glasses."

"Why would they do that?" the time tadpole asked.

"That's what I would like to know," Madoka muttered as she looked out the window. She frowned as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together in her mind.

-Russian Auction-

Meanwhile in underground Moscow, Russia…

A man in a thick black coat walked down a dimly underpass. He did a quick glance as he walked faster. The man shoved his hands into his pockets and didn't look behind him. He turned left, rounded the corner, walked straight down the path, turned left again, and stopped when he came to a manhole. The man quickly looked around before bending down and opening the cover.

Once he climbed down the manhole, the man's demeanor changed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. A hand reached out and lit it. The man looked up to see a figure wearing a white Phantom of the Opera mask.

"Are you here work or pleasure?" he asked. The man took a smoke and breathed out.

"Pleasure," he said.

"Right this way," the masked figure said. The man in the coat followed them down the tunnel.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"No," the masked figure asked. They came down an entry with thick red curtains. The masked guide stepped away.

"Enjoy your night," he said.

"Thanks," the man said. He walked through the curtains and took his seat in the back.

Up ahead, a man in a black mask and cloak walked across a blood red stage. He held out a black riding crop.

"Good evening, my guests!" he said. "Welcome to the Tadpole Auction!" The crowd clapped politely. Their host motioned for their silence with his hands.

"Thank you," he said. "May the auction begin." The red curtains behind him drew back and revealed a picture of a man with white hair and a woman with long black hair.

"First up tonight, are the twins, Adam and Eve," he said. "Starting price is zero Euros."

-Hecate and Mikado-

Back in Ikebukuro…

Mikado's stomach turned with the feeling of someone watching him. He turned around and noticed a woman with long black hair sitting on his futon. The tadpole boy tried not to look down her tight dark brown corset. The woman broke into a cat-like smile.

"Hello, Chirin," she said. Her English accent made Mikado's ears twitch.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" he asked. The woman shook her head.

"Oh come on, Chirin," she said. "You know who I am. We've met many times before in the previous cycles. Now tell me, what is my name?" Mikado backed away.

"No, I do not know you," he said.

"It will take you a little while to remember," the woman said. "Keep trying to remember." The tadpole boy narrowed his eyes. For some reason, only one name echoed in his brain.

"Hecate?" he asked. The woman's eyes lit up.

"Thank you," she said. Mikado blinked.

"Don't I really know you?" he asked.

"I see your memories haven't fully come back yet," Hecate said. "That's okay. They'll come back all in due time."

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked. The nightcomer's face came within inches of his.

"I came to talk to you, of course," she said. Hecate reached into her cloak and pulled out a worn red journal.

"I know everything about you," she said. "Your powers, your wild nights, your loneliness, your anger, your frustration, your emptiness. I even know the brand of cigarette you smoke."

"I don't smoke," Mikado said, shaking his head.

"Not yet, anyway," the nightcomer said. "You write everything in this journal right here." She opened the book and showed him the pages. Mikado quickly read over the contents.

"This does look like my handwriting," he muttered. Mikado lifted his head. "Where did you get this?"

"You gave me it to me from a previous timeline," Hecate said.

"I don't understand. Why are you showing me this? What are you doing here?" Mikado's voice started trembling as he spoke. The nightcomer rose to her feet.

"Because, the whole world needs to know that you exist," she said. "You and your brothers and sisters will be the gods of the new world after all."

"Gods of the new world?" the tadpole boy asked. "What are you talking?" But, Hecate was nowhere in sight. Mikado pinched himself in the cheek. The room remained empty with just him inside. Masaomi when out to go buy dinner for them both. Mikado grabbed at his right arm. Something about Hecate's words gave him pause.

He looked up when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, Mikado," Masaomi said outside. "I got us both some miso chicken tonight." Something about his hyper friend's voice was so soothing.

"Hang on, I'll be there in a second!" Mikado said. He got up to open the door.

-Riku-

On Monday, Shinra and Shingen tracked down the next tadpole. According to the records, she lived in the richer part of Shinjuku. Father and son came up to the apartment. Shinra turned to Shingen.

"Here?" he asked.

"That's correct," Shingen said. The younger doctor turned back to the door.

"Okay," he said. Shinra knocked on the door. A deep brown eye peeked out from the crack of the open door.

"Who is it?" a woman's voice asked.

"My name is Kishitani Shinra," Shinra said. "And this is my father, Shingen. We are looking for a Ishii Riku. Is she in right now?"

"Why?" the woman asked.

"We would like to speak with her?"

"You can't!"

"Is there a reason why not?"

"Because I said so!" She tried to close the door, but Shinra grabbed on.

"Let go!" the woman growled.

"This is really important," the doctor said. "It will only take about five minutes."

"I said no!" the woman barked. "Now get out of here before I call the police!" Despite her efforts to keep him out, Shinra got the upper hand and pushed the door as far as the chain would allow it from the inside. He reached inside to unlock it.

"Get out! Get out! Just get out!" the woman yelled as the doctor struggled. Shinra successfully got the chain unlocked and pushed open the door. A petite woman with long black hair stood inches away from him. Her long white blouse became wrinkled from her struggle with the door. She reached down and pressed on her long gray skirt.

"Are you Riku?" the door asked.

"No!" the woman snapped. "I'm her sister, Risa." The whole time, Shingen stood back, watching the scene. He made mental notes about the frustrated, red-faced woman.

"Is your sister in?" the older doctor finally asked.

"Yes, but you can't see her," Risa grumbled.

"May we ask why not?" Shingen asked. The woman threw back her head and groaned. These two didn't look like they were leaving any time soon.

"Come inside and you'll see why," Risa said at last. She turned and walked further into her apartment. Shinra and Shingen followed her inside.


	25. Arisa

Halo Twenty-Four: Arisa:

Night shift at the hospital can be slow at times. Kawamata Arisa rubbed her forehead as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. She couldn't get her son to stop talking to the man in the black coat who stood at their door at the early hours of the morning. She would've been okay if it had just stopped there. But…

Another woman playfully jumped onto her, laughing. Arisa struggled to keep her balance against the sinks.

"Gah!" she shouted. The other nurse grinned.

"Hey there!" she said. "Why are you spacing out?" Arisa smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, Kiki," she said. Her co-worker frowned.

"What's the matter?" she asked. The older nurse sighed and shook her head.

"Goro-kun keeps talking to strange men dressed in black at our door at odd hours of the morning," she said.

"His imaginary friend again?" Kiki asked.

"I'm not so sure it's that anymore," Arisa said. "I keep having memories of a monster from my childhood."

"What kind of monster?" her coworker asked. Arisa gently pushed her off and walked out of the bathroom.

"Kawamata-senpai?" Kiki asked as she followed behind.

* * *

Arisa and Kiki walked over to three of their coworkers gathered around the nurse's station. The ladies looked up when they heard footsteps.

"Did we miss anything?" Kiki asked. A red-headed nurse flipped back her hair.

"Oh, we were just talking about ghosts in the city," she said. Arisa about jumped.

"Ghosts?" she asked.

"I keep seeing little children running around the hospital at night," the red-head said. "They don't really do much. I tried to talk to one of them, but they just stared at me."

"And you sure it wasn't one of the patients in this hospital?" Kiki asked.

"I don't think I've seen that little girl around here before," the red-headed nurse with the big chest said. "I checked twice."

"And you're sure it was a ghost?" Kiki asked.

"I'm positive, 110%," the older nurse said. Arisa clutched her arm.

"She's telling the truth," she mumbled. The other four nurses turned to see their colleague trembling. The nurse with the long black hair pressed her lips together.

"It's my son," she said. "He keeps talking to this man dressed in black at our front door."

"What does this man look like?" a nurse with her black hair pinned up in a braid under her hat. Her English accent had a calming effect on the group. Arisa shook her head.

"I can't see him," she admitted,

"What?" the red-head asked.

"He's invisible," Kiki said, leaning on her senpai.

"It's not a joke," Arisa said as she pushed her off. "Goro-kun sounds so serious about it. I thought he was playing around, but now I'm not so sure." Her eyes dropped to her hands. Already, she began to have the memories from her childhood.

"The children have been acting strange," she said. The nurses all went quiet. The nurse with the black braid shuffled her feet.

"Well…" she began to say.

"What is it, Joe?" a nurse with brunette pigtails asked. The English nurse shifted her eyes away from her co-workers. She battled with her head if she should speak up or not.

"Are you seeing things too?" Kiki asked.

"Yes," Joe mumbled. The younger nurse's blonde ponytail bounced as she handed over to her English co-worker.

"Tell us! Tell us!" she shouted.

"Kiki!" the brunette yelled. The younger nurse drew back and cleared her throat.

"I used to be scared of the dark when I was little girl," Joe said. "I was going home the other day when I had the feeling that somebody was watching me. I would've ignored it if the feeling would disappear when I walked under a streetlight."

"Did you hear any strange noises?" the red head asked. Joe rubbed at her ears as if trying to remember.

"It sounded like bones knocking against other," she said. "That wasn't the first night either." Joe shoved her hands into her pockets.

"I have the feeling that something or someone is watching me in my flat," she added. "I was making myself some tea in my kitchen when I heard something breathing down my neck. When I turned around, there was no one there."

"Are sure that it's not just the wind?" Kiki asked. Joe shook her head.

"In the middle of the night, I felt like someone was sitting on chest as I sleep," she said. "I feel like I'm choking. I can't move as I feel claws sinking into my arms. When I wake up, there is nothing there."

"Creepy," Kiki said.

"I get creeped out thinking about it," Joe said. The red-headed nurse bit her lower lip.

"I keep hearing strange noises in my bathtub," she said. Her co-workers eyed her. The nurse trembled.

"Himeko?" Kiki asked. Himeko trembled, but nodded.

"It's okay, really," she said. "My grandmother had this bathtub that looked so creepy. It scared me just to look inside. The tub looked worse when it was filled with water."

"What about your tub?" Joe asked. Himeko looked behind her at first.

"Well, when we had my aunt's funeral, they placed her in a white casket. I remember I was six years old at the time and that was my first time of seeing a dead body. I sat so close to that casket."

"What color was your grandma's bathtub?" Kiki asked.

"White," Himeko said. "I wouldn't go anywhere near. I didn't even want to look inside of." The nurse shivered as she found herself reliving the memories.

"Last night, I tried to take a bath," she said. "I had run the water and everything. When I went to get in, I could've sworn that I saw a face in the water. At first, I thought I was tired from a long day."

"What happened?" Arisa asked. Himeko lowered her eyes.

"When I leaned down for a closer look, a hand reached out to grab me," she said. "I fought back and it disappeared." Himeko held out her wrist.

"That creature left scratches on my arm here," she said. Kiki examined her arm.

"Damn," she said. "It took some of the skin!" The more Arisa listened, the more she dug back into her own childhood. When she was a little girl, she heard what sounded like a dog in her closet. Something inside of her told that it wasn't a normal dog. Her mother warned her of demons that spirited away children in the dead of night. Looking back, that dog demon was probably the one that took her childhood best friend years ago.

"I think it might be coming back," she mumbled in present day.

Her coworkers stared at her.

"What are you talking about?" Kiki asked. Arisa opened her mouth to speak.

"Excuse me, ladies!" a voice spoke up. The five nurses turned to see a bigger woman in her nurse's uniform glaring at them.

"Just because it's the night shift doesn't mean you can just stand around talking!" she snapped. "Get back to work!" The nurses all raced back to work. Arisa tried not to make eye contact with the bigger woman.

* * *

Arisa tried to focus as she began her rounds. She believed her co-workers and their stories. The nurse took measures to protect her children. Goro never left the house without his orange paper lantern. Arisa tried to keep the door locked and bolted at night. She even placed protective charms on all of the doors and windows around the apartment. Still, Arisa wasn't convinced that would be enough. What if the man dressed in black came through the closet door like that demon dog did? She would not take that chance.

Arisa was about done on her hall when she came to room 19. For some reason, the hospital always kept this door closed. No nurses were allowed in to tend to the patient inside. Arisa began wonder about who was in room 19 and why were they closed off from the rest of the hospital. The nurse looked around for a quick moment. It wouldn't hurt to take a look inside, would it? No one would notice her walking over and taking a look in.

Arisa slowly walked up to the closed white door. Her hand inched towards the doorknob.

"Kawamata!" a loud voice shouted behind her. Arisa shouted as she whipped around. Etsuko stood further down the hall with a stern look on her face. The nurse quickly bowed.

"I apologize," she said. "I had just finished my shift. Excuse me." Etsuko's didn't lift her cold gaze as Arisa grabbed her cart and hurried back down the hall. The nurse turned when she thought she heard the doctor mutter something to her.

"It's best not to go down rabbit holes you ought not to."

"Excuse me?" Arisa asked. The doctor didn't respond as she walked up to room 19's door. Arisa shivered as she walked out of the hall.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Kiki asked at the nurse's station. Arisa rubbed the back of her head.

"I got distracted," she said. "Hey, what's with Room 19?" Kiki's face darkened.

"Nobody goes back there," she said.

"Why not?" Arisa asked. Kiki grabbed her by the arm and led her down another hall.

"Kiki?" the older nurse asked. They didn't stop until they reached the janitor's closet. Kiki opened the door and shoved her senpai in.

"What are you doing?" Arisa asked.

"Nobody talks about that patient," Kiki said in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" the older nurse asked.

"They just don't."

"But why not?"

"They just don't."

"It's a really special patient in there."

Arisa blinked. "Special patient?" Kiki leaned in and motioned her in.

"Two years ago, a prominent psychiatrist's daughter was admitted here," she whispered. "She in an accident and has been in a coma here since then." The senpai blinked.

"Okay…" Arisa said. "Why all the secrecy?"

"We were told not to go into that room," Kiki said. "Asato-sensei is the one that takes care of her."

"All by herself?"

"Yes." Kiki looked down at her feet. "I can't tell you anymore. Please don't ask any more questions." She quickly covered Arisa's mouth as she opened.

"Please don't," Kiki pleaded. Her senpai slowly closed her mouth. They turned when they heard the door opened wide. The bigger nurse stared at them with her narrowed frog eyes.

"This isn't a game of hide-and-seek!" she shouted. "Get back to work!" Arisa and Kiki ran back down the hall to the nurse's station.

* * *

"Nurse Ino is creepy," Kiki complained. She shivered as she grabbed her arm. "I miss Mariko."

"Did they ever catch whoever killed her?" Arisa asked. Her kouhai looked up.

"No," Kiki said. "I still think her husband did it." The older nurse gave him a strange look.

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Kiki said, shrugged. "Mariko-chan was a bit controlling."

"So she's -chan now?" Arisa asked.

"Hey, she was kind of cute in her bossy way." The younger nurse giggled and stuck out her tongue. Her senpai gave her a strange look.

"Okay… Why do you think Ken would've killed Mariko?"

"I think she might've nagged him too much and he finally snapped."

"But that wouldn't explain how he strangled her with her pearls, snapped her neck and then nailed her to that cross on the ceiling—all without being heard? The only blood was found on his face when he found the body."

Kiki took a moment to think about it. "Yeah… you do have a point. It's still kind of creepy. Come to think about it, Mariko didn't talk much about her past either. I tried to get her to talk about herself, but she didn't want to talk about."

"Oh!"

"What is it?"

"Didn't she say something about blowing the top off of something?"

"You're right! She said that there was a huge cash payment in it too. But, I didn't take her as the type of person who lived for the money. Ken made a good profit at that research lab in Shinjuku."

"What was she going to blow the top off of?"

Kiki made a face. "I don't know. She distracted on the other line the last time I spoke to on the phone."

"Something weird is going on in this city," Arisa said at last.

"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to think so too," Kiki said.

* * *

Outside of the hospital, Tiresias stood in front of the steps. The blind woman held out her left hand. A fast shock ran through her body.

"It's here!" she said. Tiresias reached into her pinned up white hair and pulled out another silvery-blue pin. She smiled as she dropped it into the ground. The warm vibrations rumbled under her feet. But, this victory was short-lived.

Across the street, Kai watched her with a cold glare.

"I don't think I like this so much," he said to himself.


	26. Riku

Halo Twenty-Five: Riku:

-Risa-

Risa bitterly took a drink of her dark green tea. "What do you people want from us? Did they send you here to terrorize me because of the lawsuit?"

Shinra blinked as he sat across the table from her. "Lawsuit?"

"Yes!" The woman clunked her cup as tightly as she could. "They must pay for what they did to my sister and all of those patients in Chou Mori!"

"How much do you know?" Shinra asked. Risa put down her cup and sighed.

"I have been doing research on Chou Mori Institution for years," she said. "Everything I have found is a horror show. Injuries to many patients, two suicides of their staff, mistreatment of both patients and staff, and don't get me started on the poor conditions of that place itself!" She got up and walked out of the kitchen. Risa came back with armfuls of files. She dropped them all on the table, some of the papers spilled to the floor. Shingen picked up one of them and ran over it.

"I'm impressed you've been doing this much research, ma'am," he said. "I can guarantee you that we're not here because of your lawsuit. We just want to talk to your sister."

"Well, you can't," Risa grumbled.

"May we ask why not?" Shingen asked. The woman sank down back in her seat as she sighed. She put her hands over her face and groaned.

"Our mother married a man that I didn't trust," Risa admitted.

"What?" Shinra asked. The woman lowered her hands.

"Years ago, it was just the four of us: mom, Riku, our little brother, Yodo, and myself," the woman began. "Mom worked for a high-powered law firm. She was one of the top prosecution lawyers in Ikebukuro. I admired her and wanted to just like her. Mom was happy to know that I wanted to follow in her footsteps."

Risa looked down at her cooling cup of tea. "But, she was lonely. Our father died shortly after Yodo was born. Mom buried herself into work, but that can only take you so far. When I turned eighteen, I helped find a matchmaker. I did everything by the book and did background checks, read the reviews, and researched the prices before I acted. The matchmaker hooked my mom up with a man named Kobi Torajira. He may have won her over with his charms, but I didn't trust him at all."

"What was it about him that put you off of him?" Shinra asked.

"It was just my instinct," Risa said. "I ran a background check on him before I made my own judgements. I even had a private investigator who worked for my mom's firm to help me. Torajira came up clean. Still, I didn't trust him. I convinced mom to be careful with her money and possessions. Luckily, she took my advice and set up a separate bank account in secret and we worked on her will. Aside from that, everything was going fine. Torajira got along with my brother and sister. He always brought them presents whenever he came to visit. I didn't object to him marrying my mom, but I kept up my guard. I just wanted my mom to be happy."

"So… what happened?" the younger doctor asked. The woman frowned as she flipped back her long black hair.

"Three years later, my mom had bone cancer," she said. "Torajira was acted so supportive and tried to help her. I took care of the family's finances and help keep her firm afloat. Her coworkers helped me learn the ropes so that I could take over. The problem was the doctors never picked up on mom's cancer in time. She died a year later." The lawyer woman picked up her cup and took a drink. She winced at the bitter taste.

"We had the funeral and everything," she added. "After it was said and done, in my mom's will, this apartment, the firm, and all of her money was to go this my siblings and me."

"He didn't get anything, did he?" Shingen asked.

"No," Risa said. "That man was furious. He tried to kill us all. I wasn't home at the time, it was just Riku and Yodo. He tried to shoot them with a gun he purchased on the streets. From what I heard, Riku tried to protect Yodo. That man failed to kill her first, so he went after Yodo. I assume that my sister fought him and got the gun. Somehow in the middle, our little brother was killed. That man tried to kill me at mom's firm, but the security guard and her coworkers wouldn't let him in. When he got arrested, he lied and said that Riku went crazy and killed my brother."

"And she was committed to Chou Mori because of it?" Shingen asked.

"Yes," the lawyer said. "I fought to get her out and bring that man to justice for tearing our family apart."

"But the Chou Mori's been shut down for two years now," Shinra said. "What's the point anymore?"

"It may be shut down, but the people are still out there," Risa said. "I am trying to find the victims and their families to bring together a joint lawsuit and bring their tormentors to justice!"

"Well, we have something in mind for some of the patients," Shingen was quick to say. "We are trying to find them and see what happened to them under Kitano-sensei and Asato-sensei's care. Which is why we have to talk to your sister." The lawyer woman hesitated lowered before she lowered her head.

"You can't…" she murmured.

"But why not?" Shinra asked.

* * *

-Mari and Mikage-

Mikage stared Mari down. Mari pushed up her glasses onto her face.

"Have you been seeing any strange visions lately?" she asked. Mikage froze. She remembered seeing those creepy shadows floating in the sky above the gym. She remembered the dead bodies inside.

"Why?" Mikage asked.

"It's not an illusion," Mari said a quiet voice. She set up her laptop on the floor and booted it up. The gym instructor looked at the screen. The clock counting down appeared in full view.

"You've seen this before, right?" Mari asked.

"Yes," Mikage said. "Why is it doing that?"

"It's counting down."

"I can see that, but to what?"

"To the End of Days." Mari turned to Mikage. "Izaya is in serious danger."

"He can probably handle it," Mikage said. The programmer shook her head.

"No," she said. "This is different. I can't explain it to you. There's isn't much time left."

"What are you talking about?" the gym instructor asked.

"I don't know how much he remembers," Mari said. "But if he sticks around here with us any longer, they will kill him."

"And you want my help to get him out of the city?" Mikage asked. The programmer lowered her eyes.

"Yes," she said. Mikage folded her arms across her chest.

"I've seen you with him," she said. Mari lifted her head with big eyes.

"It's not the way that you think!" she blurted out. "We are not in love at all!" The programmer closed her mouth as Mikage held up her hand.

"Look, I don't know the full story on what's going on between you two, and I'm not usually one to pry or petty enough to interfere with his personal life and choice," she said. "However, if you hurt that man in anyway, I won't hesitate to kill you." Mari nodded once.

"I understand," she said. The gym instructor lowered her hand.

"So what do you plan to do to save him?" she asked.

"The best way to go about this is to get him as away from the city as possible," Mari said. She reached into her bag and pulled out one of Izaya's phones.

"I nixed this from him while he was in the shower last night," the programmer admitted. "I've kept it turned off all day."

"You are aware that isn't the only phone he has, right?" Mikage asked. That was the same question she asked the last time they had this conversation.

"Yes," Mari said.

"Let me guess, your idea is to ship away somewhere with no possible chance of getting back Ikebukuro so easily," the gym instructor said. Mari bowed as quickly as she could.

"Please help me!" the programmer begged.

"What do you suggest we do?" Mikage asked. Mari stood up with a look of relief on her face.

"I have to thank you again," she said.

"Yeah, yeah," the other woman said. "What's the plan?"

"Well, I did make a start by taking this phone," Mari said. Mikage nodded once.

"So, what's the next move?" she asked.

* * *

-Heartseed-

Anna watched as the Heartseed plant glowed a hazy blue color. The interns have been keeping track of this plant for weeks. Kitano assured them it was because the tadpoles were evolving. He had the blood tests to prove it. Meanwhile, Anna had just finished her second round of drugs for the experiment. Come to think of it, Mei was the only one who hadn't contributed a drug yet. She refused to tell anyone what it was yet.

"Come on, can't you give us a little hint?" Anna pleaded with Mei this morning. Her colleague shook her head.

"Sorry," she said. "I can't show it to you until it's my day." Anna pouted as she puffed up her cheeks.

"You are not fun!" she said.

"Sorry," Mei said. "That's just how it is." Meanwhile, Anna had Cutie Aphrodite to work on. She would glance up occasionally to check on the Heartseed. Right now, the little flowers were closed. Anna always wondered how it knew that new drugs were coming towards it. She stood up and walked over to the plant trapped in the glass. As if in a trance, the intern walked closer with her fingertips out.

"I know it's pretty, but it's prettier when it's not touched," a voice said behind her. Anna froze and whipped around. Kitano stood in the doorway. The intern sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and chuckled.

"I'm so sorry," she said. Kitano gave her a little smile.

"I can understand the fascination," he said. He walked over to the Heartseed again.

"This beauty is connected to our pets," the therapist said. "They grow beautiful each day. But alas, there is still a problem." Anna tilted her head.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Kitano sighed and shook his head.

"You and Yuka will have been the first interns to see this," he said. "Come with me." Anna had curious look on her face as she followed behind.

* * *

Kitano led her into another lab room down the hall. He turned on the screen on the wall. A giant animation of a heart started beating. Anna stared at the technology before her eyes.

"What am I looking up?" she asked.

"The weakness of the tadpoles," Kitano said. "One stab and they will die. Plus, I have made an observation with Chirin."

"Observation?" Anna asked.

"Apparently, Chirin suffered from a little bit of sensory overload," he said. "I want to run more tests to confirm my hunch."

"How do we do that?" she asked. They looked up when they heard the door open. Yuka stood in the doorway, blinking.

"Did I miss anything?" she asked.

"Oh, no," Kitano said. "I was just getting Konoe-san up to speed here on the current situation." Yuka joined her mentor and the other intern.

"Good," the therapist said. "I have the unit all together."

"Unit, sir?" Yuka asked.

"The three of us are going to fix this heart flaw of theirs," Kitano said. "The brain and heart are two of the most vital organs that keep a body alive. If one is destroyed, the body will die."

"And none of the drugs are protecting the heart like you want it," Anna said.

"Correct," Kitano said. "Right now, we will do the research and find the cause. Any unnecessary action can cause the project to go sideways. Konoe, you can work on your drug while you do your research."

"Yes sir," Anna said.

"Sensei," Yuka spoke up. The therapist raised his eyebrow at her.

"Yes?" he asked. The intern shuffled her feet as she tried to form her words.

"What do with the wave of people that will be curious about the tadpoles?" she asked. "Your video was good, but there will still be others that will probably hunt down the tadpoles to find out the truth for themselves."

"You leave that to me," Kitano said. "We've already got that part covered."

* * *

-Saki-

The effects of the fourth gate continued to spread. Saki started to see visions of her own death. Tonight, she was rinsing some vegetables for dinner when the latest flash hit her.

Saki and Masaomi had a lovely dinner together of spicy curry. He complimented her on good cooking.

"That was great!" the boy said.

"Oh good," Saki said. "It was a new recipe I was trying out." But then, she froze. "Oh!"

"What's the matter?" Masaomi asked.

"I forgot to get the cake!" she said.

"Cake?" her boyfriend asked.

"Yes, I ordered it this morning," Saki said. She got up and walked over to the front door.

"No, it's fine," Masaomi said. "We don't really need it."

"It won't be too long," his girlfriend insisted. "I'll be back in thirty minutes." Saki put on her coat and walked out the door.

The trip to the bakery started out fine. Except for the feeling that she was being followed. Saki turned around at one point. Despite no one in sight, she held her bag close to her side. The girl made it to the bakery and got the cake. Saki walked down the street with her eyes looking on either side of her. She was just about home when a person on a motorcycle rushed up beside her and stole her bag. The girl put up a fight, but the stranger in black had the upper hand.

"Hey!" Saki shouted, running after the bag. "Come back here with my bag! Thief! Somebody stole my bag! Give it back! Give it back!"

"Saki-chan!" she heard behind her. "Saki-chan!" Saki turned around and found herself in shock at what she saw. Masaomi huddled over her as lay out cold on the sidewalk. He shook her as hard as he could as he screamed. Saki couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Masaomi-kun, I'm right her-!" she started to say. A sharp pain shot through her side. When the girl looked down, blood stained through her lacy pink top. Masaomi tried to shake her awake before groaning and putting his hands on his hand. He pulled out his cell phone.

"My girlfriend's been stabbed!" he said. "She's barely breathing! I don't know! I came out here to greet her and found her lying on the ground. Oh god! Okay, thank you!" Saki was about to reach out to her boyfriend when she felt a warm light against her back. She turned as she heard soft singing. The girl started walking towards the light. But then, Saki stopped.

"No," she said. The light from the sky started to disappear.

Back in reality, Saki shivered. She couldn't bring herself to chalk it up to a hallucination. It felt too real. Did this happen in the past or was she seeing the future? The girl shook her head and turned off the faucet. She looked up when her cell phone rang.

_That's probably Masaomi-kun calling me again to check to see if I'm still alive_ , the girl thought. Saki walked over to her phone pulled into the wall.

* * *

**-** Tadpoles-

Sota sat in his classroom, staring out the window. Another boring test finished. He looked around at his other classmates still taking their test. The tadpole boy wondered why he bothered coming to school anymore. He practically knew everything now thanks to the augmentations. School became like child's play to him. It annoyed his teachers that he could slack and still get the answers right. In the beginning, it gave Sota that much more power to be cockier and smarter than his teachers. But sadly, that feeling began to wear off. Sota even found it boring to make the school nurse and female teachers blush when they saw him.

_Wonder who's on Tadpole Radio right now?_  Sota closed his eyes.

_Hello? Is anyone there? Talk to me, I'm really bored here._

_Sota?_

Sota smiled to himself.  _Mikado, old buddy! Friend!_

_What is it now, Sota?_

_I'm bored. I finished another test early._

_You can't keep doing this._

_What else can I do? They won't let me leave school early and there's nothing to do during testing time._

_Goodbye Sota._

_No, no, no, no! Please? I am so bored! Please humor me._  He could hear Mikado sighing in his head.

_What do you want?_

_I was just thinking. What's going to happen to us now that everyone knows of us._

_I… I don't know…_

_Think we'll be hunted down like wild animals._

_I don't know._

_They keep calling us gods or monsters online._

_Do they?_

_Haven't you been reading up?_

_No, Masaomi has me on break from the internet._

_Really?_

_I think's better this way._

Sota tried not to laugh as he rolled his eyes.

_What?_

_Nothing. I didn't say anything at all. You just seem to do everything your boyfriend tells you to do._

_He's not my boyfriend!_

_Sure…_

_Anyway, what's the point of all of this?_

Sota leaned back in her desk.  _I'm just saying we might have to fight back when the time is right. We might even have to kill people that might kill us._

_I don't want to have to do that!_

_We might not have a choice. It's either kill or be killed. Personally, I want to live. You got me?_

_I guess…_

_There is no guessing for this anymore. It's either you get me or not. Do you understand?_

_Yes._

_Good. Let's all meet up in library again this evening. I wonder if anyone else has noticed anything different about themselves._

_I think they were already know._

_Ah, but how many of the others have they found? Midori and Madoka found Naomi the other day. We still need to find the others before this turn out like Azusa did._

_Right._

The bell rang and class was over. Sota smiled as he handed in his test. That's going to be another hundred on his record this week.

* * *

-Hecate-

Her fingers ran along the wore red cover. She made contact with him. Now, she would have to persuade him to join their cause.

Hecate looked up when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked. "Yes, mother. I have talked to him. I don't know what he wants to do next."

"That is not good enough," her mother said on the other line. "We need to have the new god for the new world. It's bad enough that everyone is talking about those tadpoles online. We can't have any more leaks before we are ready!" Hecate smiled to herself.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she said.

"What was that?!" her mother shouted on the other line.

"Nothing," her older daughter lied. "But we are about to find the fifth gate really soon."

"Good. I might have to come to Ikebukuro sometime."

Hecate forced herself to smile as she ran her fingers along the cover of Mikado's journal. "Sure. We will look forward to seeing you again. How are things in England?"

"Well, my darling. We have everything set up back here. The dragons will awaken from the countryside as soon as I find the right pieces to the old poem."

"Great. Good to heard."

"I will be coming by to see you and Lucy in Ikebukuro after you open the fifth gate."

"Alright," Hecate said as her cheeks started to hurt from all of the fake smiling. "Love you, mother."

"I love you too," her mother said. The nightcomer's hand trembled as she clutched the phone as tightly as she could. It always hurt to smile when she had to lie to her mother.

* * *

-Riku-

"You want to know why you can't take to her?" Risa asked, setting down her cup. "I will show you." The woman rose to her feet and headed down the hall. Shinra and Shingen followed behind. They came down to a closed down at the end. Risa held her breath as she opened it. The three of them looked into the dimly lit room. A woman in her mid-twenties sat on a bed in a daze. She looked so thin with her pale skin, messy white hair, and empty, sullen red eyes. Shinra covered his mouth.

"What happened to her?" he asked. The woman on the bed opened her mouth, but loud screeching noises came out of it. Risa ran over to her side and held her in her arms. She gently shushed the screeching woman as she cradled her.

"What's wrong with her?" Shinra asked, adjusting his glasses.

"They did this to her!" Risa shouted. "She was a normal and healthy girl when she went into Chou Mori. When I got her out, Riku-chan ended up severely brain damaged! She can't speak, take care of herself, or live a normal life. This is why you can't talk to her. They killed who my sister used to be!" Riku finally stopped screeching and calmed down.

"Oh," Shingen said.

"We are so sorry to have bothered you," Shinra said. Risa wiped away her tears.

"Please," she pleaded. "Could you please leave?"

"Yes," Shinra said. "Good night." He and his father bowed and left. Risa sat beside Riku and started to cry.

Meanwhile, Azazeal stood outside, smirking.


	27. Widow

Halo Twenty-Six: Widow:

Within six days, the fifth Gate to the Apocalypse would be found.

-Kitano and Osamu-

_Monday_.

"You wanted to see me?" Osamu asked in Kitano's office. The therapist had eyes of ice.

"What were you thinking out right accusing Orihara of leaking information like that?" he asked. Osamu snorted.

"I don't understand why we keep that asshole around," he said. "He doesn't do anything usual! We can gather intel ourselves. We have the money and resources. We don't need him."

"This is true."

"So… why? I don't get it!"

Kitano leaned forward over his desk. "It is better to keep Orihara-san nearby than to have him running around, unraveling our game. I do not trust him either, but this is the best ways to do things."

"You could've fooled me."

"Look, we will dispose of Orihara-san when the time is right. We've got too many things going on to stop and deal with his for the time being. Asato-san and I are evolving the tadpoles with our project. Otomo-san is bracing herself to push our game into the next round. Nakahara-san is on the cusp of reclaiming F. And you and Hajime have eliminated a threat to your Heaven Project." Kitano lowered his hand from his chin.

"The point is, it would not be wise to take an unnecessary actions that could cause us to start again. This time, I feel that we have a good game. Let's not try to ruin it." He held up his hand just when Osamu was about to speak.

"Granted, we do have spies keeping watch over Orihara-san," Kitano added. "Do you really think I'm going to let that bored little child ruin everything that easily?" Osamu frowned.

"You do have a point," he mumbled.

"So, it would be in your best interest not to do anything stupid like going after Orihara-san without any proof of his actions to sabotage us," the therapist summed up. The younger man frowned and folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine, I'll let it go there," Osamu said. "But I can't promise anything if he doesn't anything to hurt Mari-chan!" Kitano smiled and shook his head.

"Well now, Otomo-chan is a grown woman. She can make her own decision about her love life whether we like them or not," he pointed out. Osamu was about to speak when the older man's phone buzzed.

"Excuse me," he said. Kitano read the text and smiled.

"Ah, the girls found the fifth gate," he said.

"Is that right?" Osamu asked. His older colleague showed him his phone.

"Heh," the younger man said. Kitano drew back his phone.

"Excellent," he said.

-Mari-

_Tuesday_.

Mari sat in her room decoding the second part of Yoemon's code. She had to keep working to prevent suspicion drawn to her. If the first part allowed a countdown onto the internet, what was the rest of the program going to do? But stopping would draw phone calls from her mother.

"We should not be doing," she mumbled to herself. She shivered as she realized something. Have they ever gotten this far before? Usually, they would have to start over after the third gate was opened. She didn't want to think about who could be possibly helping them this time. No, she had other things to worry about.

Her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Mari asked.

"Mari-tan!" a familiar male's voice said in a sing-songy voice. The programmer rolled her eyes.

"You can't keep calling me when you're bored," she complained.

"Can't I call because I'm thinking about you?" Izaya asked on the other line. Mari pushed up her dark red bangs.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I just miss you," the information broker said.

"Stop saying that," Mari said. "I'm not stupid. I can see what you are doing."

"And what would that be?" he asked. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Forget it," the programmer mumbled. Mari happened to look on her screen and her jaw dropped. "What the…?" she asked. She moved her mouse back and forth.

"What's going on?" Izaya asked. "What happened?" Little red dots began to pop up on the screen. They blinked on the placed where she just decoded.

"What's happening?!" Mari asked as she tried to type in any code to make it stop. "My laptop's acting strange!"

"What are you talking about?" Izaya asked. Suddenly, the programmer's laptop shut down. Mari sat there blinking with big eyes.

"I… I don't know what happened," she said. "I was decoding the Dis Program and then little red dots appear on the screen. And then it just shut everything down."

"Little red dots?" the information broker asked.

"Yeah," Mari said.

"Let me guess, the code did it, right?" he asked. The programmer was about to speak when her laptop turned back on.

"Ah, it's back on," she said. Her laptop acted like it was booting up like it normally did. But when it got to the Apple screen, it froze.

"Huh?" she asked. Her screen started to pixelated and then an image started to load on the screen. Mari's jaw dropped as the features slowly appeared.

"Yoemon-sensei?" she asked. When his full face loaded, a message flashed across where his eyes were supposed to be.

"Welcome?" Mari read.

"What's on going, Mari-tan?" Izaya asked. "Mari-tan? Mari-tan?"

"What kind of program is this?!" the programmer asked.

"Hello?" the information broker asked. "Hello? Hello?" Mari's laptop returned to normal and set up the Dis Program just as it was before it shut down.

-Arisa-

_Wednesday_.

The nurses at the hospital started to have strange flashbacks. Arisa had just started her morning shift for the day when it started with chills running down her spine. She glanced over her shoulder. Why couldn't she shake the feeling that she was being watched? Did it have to do with those shadowy figures floating over the hospital?

"They are the souls of those how died here, you know?" a voice asked. Arisa turned around. A girl stood further down the hall down from her. She had to used her hand to support herself against the wall. Her skin looked so pale compared to her hospital gown and dark blue hair.

"They want to crossover, but they can't," she said. "They are trapped here by bond to other spirits around the city." Arisa tilted her head as she looked into her green and pink eyes.

"Um… I'm sorry, but are you supposed to be back here?" she asked.

"Have you been sensing strange things lately?" the girl asked. "Ghosts? Someone watching you? Creatures talking to any of your children?" Arisa about jumped.

"How do you know about the man in the black coat?" she asked.

"Darkness will swallow Ikebukuro whole," the girl said. "This city is going to die."

"What are you talking about?" the nurse asked, backing away. "Who the hell are you? What are you doing here? I don't even think I've seen you around here before."

"I've always been here."

"Then how can I've seen you around this hospital before?"

"I don't get out of my room much." Something about the way she said that gave Arisa chills. This girl's eyes seemed to stare through her soul. The nurse's own eyes shifted back and forth.

"I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull, but I will call security if you don't cut it out," she said.

"Do you right think that will change anything?" the girl asked. Arisa backed up further.

"Uh, well…" she murmured.

"Kawamata-san?" the nurse heard further down the hall. Arisa looked up to see Joe on the other side. The English nurse had a look of concern on her face. The Japanese nurse blinked.

"Joe?" she asked.

"Who were you talking to?" Joe asked. Arisa looked in front of her and the color drained from her face.

"There was a girl standing here a second ago," she said. Joe took a step forward with her hand to her chest.

"You can see them too, right?" she asked.

"What?" Arisa asked. Joe lowered her eyes.

"I see them around this hospital, all the time," she said in a low voice. "It's gotten worse lately."

"Who that girl I was talking to?" Arisa asked.

"I don't know," Joe said. "But I have seen others and I'm starting to have strange memories about this place too." The Japanese nurse blinked.

"What kind of memories?" she asked. Joe rubbed her forehead.

"I don't know how to explain it," she said. "But I feel like I have had this conversation with your before." Arisa pressed her lips together as she started trembling.

Outside, Tiresias' pin started to glow as it gathered more energy.

-Michiko-

_Thursday_.

She paced around as she looked at her phone. She tried to ignored the people walking around her in Sunshine City, staring at her. Tiresias texted her last night that she marked the fifth Gate of Light. Michiko had managed to make contact with two of the scribes. She and Tiresias still needed to find the other ten. There were still many dolls around Ikebukuro that hid the last three Gates of the Apocalypse. Makoto still wouldn't rejoin the fight and the third player in the game still hadn't been found. She and Tiresias were still able to keep up. So, why was Michiko feeling so uneasy?

"Michi-chan?" she heard someone ask. The girl lifted her head to see Masaomi stand inches away from her. Michiko raised her eyebrow.

"Masaomi-kun?" she asked. "How did you find me here?"

"I remembered you and I talking in Sunshine City," Masaomi answered. "I don't know what exactly you said that day, but I know it was right in this spot." Her eyes widened as the color drained from her.

"What else do you remember?" she asked.

"My girlfriend dying many times," Masaomi said. "You have to tell me the truth, Michi. What's going on? Does it involve Mikado?" Michiko bit her lower lip.

"Answer me!" he said. She dropped her shoulders.

"Yes," Michiko admitted.

"What is it?" Masaomi asked. "What is going on in the city?"

"Do you promise not to think I crazy if I tell you?" she asked.

"Why would I think that?" he asked. The dialog started to go down the same route it did last time. Michiko lowered her eyes.

"They are trying to end the world," she said in a small voice. Masaomi gave her a confused look.

"What?" he asked. Michiko rubbed her forehead.

"It's going to be very hard to explain," she said.

"Try me," Masaomi said. The girl rolled back her shoulders and sighed.

"You have to promise me one thing if I tell you," she said. "Please don't get involved. Once I tell you everything, you have to turn the other way and forget everything I told you. Get as far away from as you can."

"What are you talking about?" the blonde Shogun asked. "You are not making any sense." Michiko closed her eyes and started groaning.

"I'm trying to stop this before we all are killed in this stupid game!" she wailed.

"What game?!" Masaomi asked. "What are you talking about?!" Michiko opened her eyes when her dark blue phone buzzed in her hand.

"Hang on!" she said. Michiko looked down at her phone. Her heart sank as she fell to her knees.

"No… No…" she murmured.

"What's the matter?" Masaomi asked. He spotted Michiko's phone and slipped it out of her hand. The text further baffled him.

"They found the fifth gate?" he asked. "What does that mean?" Michiko lifted her head with despair written all over her face.

"That means Tandeki is closer to freeing her," she said. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"What are you talking about?" Masaomi asked. "Freeing who?" Michiko sat back, drawing her knees to her chest. She mumbled something in an inaudible whisper.

"What?" Masaomi asked. "What was that?" The young girl stared at him with her big red eyes.

"The Woman in Red," she answered louder. Those words sent a chill down the blonde shogun's spine. That name triggered something deep in his brain.

-Mikado-

_Friday_.

All after school activities had ended for the day. Mikado headed home alone. Masaomi seemed uneasy around him since he came to his apartment last night. The tadpole boy heard his friend trying to hide his thoughts from him.

"Please don't ask me about it," was all Masaomi said. "I don't want to talk about it." The boys just went to bed without a word. The next morning felt so tense between them. Masaomi kept a close eye on his friend.

"I think I'm going to be staying late today," Mikado said.

"How late?" Masaomi asked. "I will not let you get kidnapped again."

"I will be careful this time," his friend said. "Go ahead without me. I know you are worrying about Mikajima again." Masaomi looked away. Mikado gently took him by the wrists.

"Look," he said. "I will be fine. I think I can defend myself now. I can feel myself changing each day. You can go and check on Mikajima if you need to." The blonde shogun blushed at his touch.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Mikado let go of him as quickly as possible.

"I'll call you when I'm coming home," he promised. His friend looked away with bright red cheeks. Mikado sighed and shook his head.

"Fine, come here," he said. Mikado leaned and kissed his friend on the cheek. "Better?" His best friend perked up.

"Do you promise to call me as soon as you get home?" Masaomi asked.

"Yes," Mikado said. The boys parted ways after more chat and another kiss on the cheek. Above in the skies, a pair of golden eyes focused on the tadpole boy.

"Found him," they said.

* * *

After sundown, Mikado started to leave the school. He didn't see Anri anywhere like usual. Probably for the best. If his touch could make Masaomi crush on him like a horny little schoolgirl, what affects could he have on Anri if she accidentally touched him? Azusa's powers made him shiver.

As soon as he walked out of the gates, Mikado froze.

"Who's there?" he asked. The boy slowly turned around. An office lady stood inches away with a large cleaver in her hand. Her breathing sounded like a wild, injured animal's. She locked her deep red eyes on her prey.

"Uh… Can I help you with something?" Mikado asked. The office lady let out a loud cry before charging forward with her cleaver above her head. Her prey's eyes widened as he took off running. The tadpole boy found himself amazing to be running faster than he even had before in his life. But sadly, that didn't stop the crazed office lady from racing to keep up with him. She seemed to be flying through the air while swinging her cleaver around. Mikado did his best to dodge and keep running.

"Why is she coming after me?!" he asked aloud. The boy desperately looked for a way to escape. Nobody seemed to try and stop the crazy lady from chasing him. Mikado didn't get time to call for help along the way ether. He finally rounded the corner in a last-ditch effort to escape.

Adrenaline has a strange way of blocking out someone's clear judgement. Mikado didn't realize this until he found himself running into a dead end. The tadpole's eyes darted back and forth as he could hear the crazy woman getting closer. He counted down how many seconds he would have to try and climb up the building and run away on the roof. Mikado closed his eyes.

_It looks like I have no choice. I will have to try._

Stab!

Mikado opened his eyes and whipped around. The office lady stood with her mouth wide open with a sword going through her back. When the blade was removed, the crazed woman fell to the ground revealing Anri with Saika in her hand.

"Sonohara… -chan?" Mikado asked. Anri lowered Saika by her side.

"I like you, Mikado-kun," she said. "I like everything about you. You are so adorable. Which is why I have to protect you." The tadpole boy stood there, wide-eyed.  _She just… saved me from that woman. She confessed to me too. Wait… is she does she really mean it or am I making say these things?_

"Sonohara-chan… how do…?" he started to ask.

"Celty and Mika told me everything," she said. Mikado was about to speak when he heard a low groaning noise. The two teenagers turned to see the office lady lifting her head. She looked around with a confused look on her face.

"What am I doing all the way out here?" she asked. Mikado slowly approached her.

"Excuse me, miss?" he asked. The office lady looked up and blushed when she saw Mikado's face.

"Oh," she said. "Who are you? And what am I doing out here?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?" the tadpole boy asked.

"Oh, no I'm fine," the office lady said. "What happened to me?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Mikado asked. The woman sat up and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, I was coming home from the work on the subway," she began. "It had been a long day and I felt really tired. The only thing I thought about was having dinner and going to bed. When the train stopped, I got off. A huge crowd rushed past me and one man bumped into me and kept walking. The last thing I remember was waking up out here." The woman froze with big eyes.

"I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?" she asked.

"No," Mikado said with a calm smile. "I'm fine, actually." It didn't take him long to figure what transpired.

-Gate-

_Saturday_.

On June sixth, the fifth gate will be opened.

The Awakusu-kai held Akabayashi's funeral at the Awakusu house. Akane sat by Anri and her mother during the service. The tears didn't seem to know how to stop falling from her little eyes. Shiki gave the speech.

"To Akabayashi," Aozaki said, pouring sake on the casket. Akabayashi's body was cremated by noon.

Across town, Michiko and Tiresias searched for where the fifth gate would be opened. The young girl bit on her thumb as she paced around.

"Anything yet?" she asked. The blind woman held her hand out over the street as they walked. Michiko looked around with her heart pounding against her chest.

"We do not have much time," she said. "If they find their gates before we find ours we are done for!"

"I know," Tiresias said. "Be patient." Michiko whipped her head around.

"Be patient?" she asked. "Masaomi's starting to remember things. I was trying to keep him away from this hell the best that I could. But if this keeps up, I won't be able to save him again."

"Does he really mean that much to you?" Tiresias asked. Michiko sighed and dropped her shoulders.

"It's complied," she admitted. The blind woman gave her a sympathetic smile.

"We will be able to save and the others," she said. Michiko resisted voicing her doubts. Instead, she bit her lower lip and dropped her gaze to her feet. Tiresias stopped in her tracks as a chill raced up her spine.

"I found them!" she said. Michiko jerked her head upwards.

"Where?" she asked.

"The Hotel Star Plaza," Tiresias said.

"Let's go!" the young girl shouted. The pair took off running down the street towards the target destination.

Miles away in an undisclosed location, a little girl woke up on an abandoned playground. She didn't seem to remember where she was or how she got there. The child sat up and looked around. She had long wavy red hair and wore a long white dress. The child wore no shoes on her feet. One more feature was a long scar over where her right eye should be.


End file.
